Playing Tragic
by samurai-ashes
Summary: Kaiba needed someone to help shake up the public opinion and help restore Kaiba Corporation. In one rash move he ended up further into Jounouchi's world than he could have expected, and with more on his plate than he bargained for. [KaiJou complete]
1. Prologue

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**Prologue**

"Seto-sama, I realize this isn't something that you want to do, but I don't see what option you think there is, short of selling the company and cutting your losses while you can still get away with some money."

The sun was setting over Domino, and the more Kaiba thought about it, seemed as though it was setting on his company as well. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and twirling his chair to face his office window, away from his advisor – the eldest of two, both of which had been contributing to his growing headache since eight A.M., and that didn't take into account the verbal lashing he'd received from this public relations agent, either; apparently people didn't pay nearly as much attention to a CEO who helped kids when he could have been of hanging out of helicopters. "Seiji, I realize that advising is your job, but it seems that as you've gotten older your advice has been lacking."

The older man huffed, snappish as he said, "You are not the only gaming company, Seto-sama. Something needs to happen to make this company higher in consumer opinion, or you can kiss it goodbye. Appealing to the family demographic worked for Gozaburo, and considering how family unfriendly Kaiba Corporation was then, it should be a clincher for a you now." Seiji waited silently, but Kaiba had nothing to say. He had been running Kaiba Corporation on his own steam for a long time, without lying to ANY demographic. Seiji prompted, "Do you have any better ideas?"

For once, the problem wasn't going to be solved by shoving his power around; as much as Kaiba disliked Seiji's advice, he realized that man had the right idea. Kaiba Corporation was falling in public opinion, ever since those fiascos with DOOM, with the KC Grand Prix. His headache now had been years in the making, and he had to do something to get positive attention. "The new system release – "

"Won't be for nearly a year," Seiji concluded. "And frankly, I don't think you can sustain Kaiba Corporation for that long. Duel Monsters is on decline; we've ridden the wave of Duel Disk purchases for a long time, but there are no more upgrades, and everyone who needs one, has one. Kaiba Land is only one location; it can only do so much to cover the costs of research and development. We're running on borrowed time, and you need to borrow a little more through whatever means necessary."

Borrowed time… Kaiba sighed. "You really think that tabloid exposure is important?"

"Yes." Kaiba could hear Seiji pacing: four steps, pause, four steps, pause. "Just a girlfriend would do, something to keep you in public light before their interest in you wanes entirely. Once they notice you for that, the bigger papers will notice Mokuba, and the charity work; the public loves you, but they need to be reminded why. I know you think we're full of it, but we talked about this thoroughly before suggesting it; you're a well known figure, and being more socially receptive is going to do nothing but help the company – it worked before when you were... ill all those years ago, remember? A relationship is an effective means to get in the limelight quick. Are you ready to lose everything over your pride?"

In a moment Kaiba was on feet and facing Seiji, eyes narrowed. The man didn't wilt. "My pride is not at stake here — "

"This is all about your pride! Seto-sama, you and I both know you are a liar at heart when it comes to the public – how is this any different?"

He was being asked to sustain Kaiba Corporation on a lie – a trick that had worked so well for the one man he loathed. He'd mislead thousands of people, once he even handed them a carnival of death and watched them eat it up like it was mere candy. Compared to that, a false lover was child's play. But the thought didn't reassure him; it was easier to remind himself that for the greater good of his company, he was a little bit disposable.

Not that it was much more reassuring to look at it that way either.

Kaiba held back a snarl and walked around the desk, passing Seiji. He paused, and their eyes met. "Fine," he said. "You'll have your publicity. Give me twenty-four hours."

---

Kaiba sat up in bed, blinking to clear away the blurriness of sleep – only to wish he hadn't as his eyes fell on the shapeless mound of green fabric beside him, rising and falling steadily. Figured – even his dreams didn't give him reprieve from his losses. He yawned, covering his mouth and looking around the room, out the window. The sky was still dark, and the moon was still visible from his window; it looked like he had a few more hours until morning. That was all it took to convince him to go back to the comfort of his pillows.

After all, he may have been doing it for months, but he didn't look forward to facing Jounouchi in the morning.

**-end­ prologue-**

* * *

**notes**  
I threw around honorifics versus titles, like Mr. or -sama, but I agree on the idea that there's not quite a proper translation to -sama; Mr. doesn't seem to quite cover it. Not to mention I love the ring there is to Seto-sama, not to mention the idea of why his subordinates call him Seto-sama as opposed to Mr. Kaiba. That will not come up in this story, lol, just an idea. 


	2. Part I: Chapter One

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

_Part I_  
**Chapter One**

Jounouchi groaned as he woke up; it was a sound Kaiba was accustomed to about as much as he was used to Jounouchi running for the bathroom before he even realized he was in Kaiba's bed. Kaiba glanced over at him just long enough to see Jounouchi's eyes snap open before he groaned, "Goddamn it! Every time I convince myself that waking up next to you was just a nightmare, I do it again!" With that he tossed his comforter off onto Kaiba, taking his sheet and wrapping it around his waist. Kaiba tossed the green abomination he called a blanket to the floor; he hated the damn thing – it was tattered, it's stuffing showing in sections where the fabric was thin, and it was stained and faded where the blanket was whole. With that aside Kaiba shifted onto his left side, looking at Jounouchi as the blond stood with his back to the bed, tying his sheet around his waist. "You do realize that I still don't remember sex with you, right?" Kaiba rolled his eyes, watched as Jounouchi's hasty tie job failed and sheet fell to the ground.

"After two months, that excuse is wearing a little thin," Kaiba retorted as Jounouchi tried to tie the sheet again. As though he really had anything left to hide.

"Yeah, well…" He took a deep breath; his shoulders moved with the motion, and he ran a hand through his already bed-muddled hair, muttering to himself. "Last night, last night… old slasher flick, pepperoni pizza… Whiskey." He exaggerated the last word, like the name of an old friend that he didn't particularly like. Finally he looked over his shoulder at Kaiba. "How was I?"

"Boring as usual," Kaiba assured him, lying on his back. "Though I'll give you credit; for an alcoholic, you keep it up pretty well."

"Hey, fuck you." He paused, and laughed slightly. "Yeah, my dad has told me on three different occasions that my family's men are amazingly resistant to whiskey dick."

A family of alcoholics – Kaiba decided not to tell him that he shouldn't have been proud of that particular immunity. "Because I really want to know about your family's dicks," Kaiba grumbled.

"You seem to be pretty fond of mine."

"Trust me, you like mine a lot more."

Jounouchi intoned, "I must love it when you talk dirty. Ugh, I'm taking a shower." Kaiba didn't really think it was the last he'd hear out of Jounouchi, and he was right – within minute, Jounouchi was yelling out to him again: "You're out of mouth-wash!" Kaiba just smirked. Maybe it was abnormal not to be bothered that the person he was sleeping with was so eager to wash away his taste. "Anyway, is today business as usual?"

Kaiba nodded, then yelled loud enough so that Jounouchi would hear him: "Yes." The shower started up after that, and within minutes steam was rolling out of the bathroom; it was almost like Jounouchi wanted to purge himself. He didn't know if such hot showers were normal for Jounouchi, though; he'd never asked. Besides, Kaiba always used more soap after sleeping with him as well.

---

The strange thing about 'business as usual' with Jounouchi was that for an utterly unusual arrangement as it was, "business" was right on target. Their morning-afters were always the same – they showered individually, Jounouchi went to "his room," which was little more than a glorified guest room where his leftover clothes from last time were kept, and they got dressed. If there was time, they ate breakfast with Mokuba – luckily, it didn't happen often; it left a pit in Kaiba's stomach to lie to his brother, even if he wasn't doing it with words. He always found it hard to eat then.

If it was a weekday, they went to Kaiba Corporation for a bit; Jounouchi would hang out with the advisors and hit on Kaiba's assistant until he got bored and went home. If it was a weekend, they sometimes went out and did something, though Kaiba avoided it at all costs. It was no secret that they were 'together'. Being public was all part of the ruse, another term of their contract.

"Is a contract legal and binding if I was drunk?" Jounouchi asked out of the blue, tapping his toe on the limo floor. Kaiba looked out the window – Kaiba Corporation was too far away for his comfort, and he didn't want to rehash the issue of the contract with Jounouchi again; he'd already done it a million times. "Can't I protest that I was taken advantage of or something?"

"Trust me, you weren't," Kaiba said, fixating on traffic. "You've reaped the benefits of the contract while sober, therefore you were knowledgeable of the contract and it's stipulations – "

Jounouchi laughed bitterly, his foot coming down hard against the floor. "My god, you sure do know how to cover your ass."

"Don't say it like you're some sort of victim. If I had my way, we wouldn't be here right now." Kaiba crossed his arms over his chest, wishing the traffic would clear so they could arrive that much faster.

"Yeah – which goes perfectly with the fact that you're the reason we're here to start with," Jounouchi grumbled, slumping down in his seat. If he had pulled this sort of tantrum at home, they would've gotten into a fight, hands down; they'd left a decent path of destruction in the mansion a few times – but home and work were two different places. However, that didn't mean that Kaiba didn't want to knock the whine right out of Jounouchi – it was like sharing his adult life with a toddler. He settled for glaring.

It got old fast; he looked away, paused, and then looked at Jounouchi again – looking for his curiosity instead of his anger. Even if he didn't like the situation, and wasn't overly fond of the blond, he didn't spend close to six months faking a pretty relationship without being able to perceive little things – like when Jounouchi was deep in thought, or when he was upset about something more than Kaiba. Jounouchi treated Kaiba like an inconvenience most days; on the whole he generally didn't seem to care nearly as much as he did when he was sober. Right then the blond was frowning, foot tapping out an agitated rhythm on the limousine floor. Luckily, the car came to a stop before Kaiba looked too far into it, and Jounouchi reached for the door handle; Kaiba caught his wrist before he got it. Jounouchi glared at him, but didn't fight. "What?"

"Smile like you mean it," Kaiba said sternly.

In return Jounouchi rolled his eyes and smiled like he was so well known for. "Don't I always?" He wrenched his arm from Kaiba's grip, exiting the car with surprising grace.

It was docile for a Monday morning; the only obstacle they ran into was a reporter in the lobby that had "accidentally" gotten his appointment time wrong and had shown up two hours early. He tried to get Jounouchi to say something about Kaiba Corporation's new releases; if better reporters hadn't tried the same trick to delve into Kaiba and Jounouchi's personal life, they might have fallen for it. Instead, Kaiba told the man that he would meet him – alone – in two hours, and until then he could entertain himself as he saw fit.

"You're not even that interesting," Jounouchi grumbled as the elevator doors slid shut, separating them from the reporter. "There's a ton of cooler people in this building alone that he could stalk… Like Yuumi. Is she working today?"

"Figure it out yourself; I have better things to do than keep track of your girlfriend," Kaiba said, waving a hand in Jounouchi's direction. Yuumi – the girl in bookkeeping that Jounouchi was not-so-secretly enamored with. She was the first person he went to when he arrived at Kaiba Corporation, even before the "damage report" with his public relations agent – and Jounouchi seemed plenty interested in Nori as well.

"Yeah, yeah…" Distracted. Kaiba looked at Jounouchi with a raised eyebrow, earning a return glare from the blond. "What?" he snapped.

"Nothing," The doors opened; they stepped out together, but Jounouchi made a sharp left into the bookkeeping office, where as Kaiba went straight down the hall to his office. Instead of empty workspace, Kaiba was greeted with the sight of his two advisors and Nori sitting there. They looked up from their conversation as he entered, and public relations didn't waste a beat.

"You!" Nori scolded, standing and following Kaiba as he went to his desk. "You need to take your boy out," she told him, wagging her finger at him as he sat down. "Numbers are down; up to 38 of the census thinks you and pretty boy are a fraud."

"We are a fraud."

The younger advisor piped up, "But they don't need to know that. We need to orchestrate something, and ASAP."

Kaiba sifted through some papers in his inbox as his computer booted up. "Isn't that Nori's job? It's a shame that my advisors don't know when to draw the line of their meddling. And as long as we're still in the rumor mill, we're getting publicity. I know as well as you do that there is no such thing as bad publicity." He rose his gaze to level it with Seiji's. The man sighed. "Anyway, whatever the problem is, take it up with Jounouchi. He's made himself scarce lately."

"Yeah," Nori drawled. "Not that I blame him. Where is he?"

Kaiba glanced up at her long enough to say, "Guess," before turning to his monitor.

"Yuumi again," she said, uttering the name like a curse as she stood and stormed out of the room.

Rolling his eyes, Kaiba grumbled, "Do I run a company or a soap opera?" He set to looking at the newest statistics in research and development. He never bothered to keep up with census, or polls, or any of the things that he had spent the past seven months listening to Nori scold him about.

"Well – " the youngest advisor started, but Seiji interrupted.

"It's your own damn fault," he said, stern as a father punishing his son. "This is not what we told you to do, and yet here we are. You made your bed, Seto-sama; lay in it. If you're lucky, the release of the new system will be a bold success, and we can drop your boyfriend like the bad news he is."

Two months. Kaiba Corporation's future had branched not just to the park, no longer to duel monsters, but into video games. The hope was that the system would be loved, and they would spend god only knew how long releasing games, signing contracts with second- and third-party developers, and releasing new systems. From there, they would have enough money to open another Kaiba Land… If it all worked out, things would be back to normal, and the charade of a relationship would be over.

"Alright, alright, I'm here!" Jounouchi snapped, storming into the office not even a second before Nori and flopping down next in the armchair at the end of the coffee table. "What lame plan do you guys have this time to keep things running smoothly?"

"First off, stop risking exposure by fucking around on company property," Nori scolded; Kaiba smirked, watching as Seiji turned away from the display, face twisted into a grimace of irritation and disgust. The headache that was slowly coiling under his eyes was worth seeing the old man irritated – it was the least he deserved. "Now, you need to start spending more time with the boss here; people are starting to think you two are a fraud."

"We are a fraud."

"That's – !"

"Irrelevant," Seiji interrupted, facing the two arguing adults. "You're under a binding agreement to act as Seto-sama's partner, and we expect no less of you until that contract is revoked. We're reaching a critical point right now – the release of the system is coming by the end of this quarter, and publicity is high; we don't have time for you to be messing around, either of you." Seiji looked pointed at Kaiba, who didn't respond to the admonition. "Nori, I leave this in your hands; I have work to be done." With that he left the room, his lackey on his heels; the door clicked shut, and Nori took a seat, frowning.

"He's crankier than usual," she muttered under her breath, leaning forward and picking up a folder that had until then been unnoticed by Kaiba. "So you have a full schedule coming up, boss; there's publicity dates, interviews… I think we should include Jounouchi in some of this – it'll really help boost your image as a happy couple." Jounouchi snorted, covering his mouth as he yawned, and Kaiba rolled his eyes, continuing with his work. "I'm serious! Anyway, there's an interview today; Jounouchi, why don't you – "

"No," Kaiba said smoothly, ignoring the scathing look Nori gave him. "He doesn't know anything about the system, and I won't have him there for eye candy."

"Fine," Nori snapped. "But you have the press dinner in before the end of next month to do the final unveiling of all the little secrets and quirks of the console, and I want him there – suited, cute, and playing up his corporate wife role for all it's worth."

Until then, Jounouchi had been lounging back with his feet against the edge of the coffee table; the words weren't even out of Nori's mouth before he snapped up, the coffee table skidding forward with the force of the motion; the potted plant on the end slid precariously close to the edge. "Don't say that."

"Say what?"

Even Kaiba had to admit to himself that he was impressed with the glare Jounouchi gave her. "'Wife'. I'm no one's wife," Jounouchi spat the word, "and certainly not his."

She let out an exaggeratedly sigh, saying, "Jounouchi, it's just a figure of – "

"I don't care. I'll be there if you come up with a better figure of speech."

"Fine, fine," she said, waving her hand at him and turning to Kaiba. "You've got a little less than two months, boys, so keep your noses clean until then. And for god's sake, boss, try not to look too tortured during the interview today." She was gone as quickly as the other two, leaving just Kaiba and Jounouchi; for a while, the only sound in the room was the methodically clicking of keys as Kaiba worked, his occasional mutter over whatever he was reading.

"How long is this supposed to take?" Jounouchi asked; he sounded just a little tired, and more than annoyed.

"What, the dinner? Probably a couple hours. If you can't behave long enough – "

"That's not what I meant." Jounouchi kicked the edge of the table as though that would better convey his frustration, and the potted plant clattered to the floor; Kaiba somehow found it easier to look at that than Jounouchi. "This, this bullshit contract of ours – how long does it last?"

"A year, I think," Kaiba said; the following shouting was enough to alert the entire floor that Jounouchi was unhappy, and more than enough to push the dull ache in Kaiba's head to a strong throbbing pain. Wincing slightly as Jounouchi listed off his protests, Kaiba opened the top drawer of his desk and fished out a bottle of aspirin. Kaiba shrugged as he tossed back two pills, swallowing them dry. "Would you shut up?" he said, raising his voice just enough to be heard over Jounouchi's tirade. "I'm well aware you're upset; shouting about it isn't going to change anything. If you're done, go somewhere where you're wanted."

Jounouchi stood, cracking his knuckles before jamming his hands in his pockets. "Don't fucking call me," he seethed.

"I wasn't planning to," Kaiba muttered to the blond's back as the door slammed shut. He pulled up the clock on his desktop, looking at the numbers under the words "The Sylph."

One month, three weeks, five days.

**-end chapter one-**

* * *

**notes**  
The shakiest part of the plot -- the contract! I'd had this bit written for a long time, and decided I really had to ask someone about the legality of a contract signed under the influence. I decided to hash this part out with my boyfriend one day because his dad was a lawyer, and it actually got run by good ol' JP one day, who told us that the contract was legal if Jounouchi got the benefits from the contract -- then he would be bound to obey it. I mentioned that, but I felt like I had to clarify that. 


	3. Part I: Chapter Two

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**Chapter Two**

It hadn't been his proudest moment, and while Kaiba had been far from admitting defeat, he had to calm down before coming up with a solution to his troubles – preferably in the most inebriated way he could manage.

Tragedy's End sounded like the appropriate place to go after that first conversation with Seiji. It sounded as defeated as he felt, and seedy enough that he didn't expect to be recognized. Even the famous needed a regular place to recoil to.

At the time Jounouchi had been at a booth in the back, nursing a half-full bottle of beer and a black eye. Kaiba's intent hadn't been to find Jounouchi; he stood just inside the entrance, staring. He knew he was better off walking away and leaving Jounouchi to whatever despair he was trying to drown. Despite that, he found himself traveling further into the lion's den and sitting across from the silent teen, waiting for… something. Maybe they could exchange sob stories, get along for the night, and forget about it with the hangovers the next morning. Their brief understandings in the past has always ended that way; Kaiba had at least enjoyed that Jounouchi understood that above all, you did not show that you had sympathy for the enemy.

"Great," Jounouchi sighed before Kaiba was even completely at the table, his words distinctly bitter. "Like I didn't have enough problems, I have you here to rub it in. Do you have an asshole radar or something?"

Shrugging, Kaiba flagged down a passing waitress and ordered his drink. After she walked away, he turned to Jounouchi and said, "I won't tell if you won't."

Jounouchi sighed, settling back against the wall and sitting sideways on his booth seat, propping his legs out in front of him. "Fine by me; this is the only place I've managed to keep a secret, and I'd rather not lose it."

"Not much of a secret," Kaiba muttered, nodding his thanks as the waitress brought back his drink. "With the neon sign and all."

"Unassuming enough for me," Jounouchi replied, taking a swig of his beer. "So, what brings a man like yourself to Tragedy's End?" Jounouchi swung an arm out as though to display the décor of the place; Kaiba didn't bother to look right away, instead reading the label of his drink.

_My wit's end_, Kaiba thought, but his retort was, "I needed somewhere unassuming to regroup my thoughts," twisting open his drink and settling back, finally taking the time to analyze his surroundings. It smelled of greasy beef and flowers, probably an air freshener in a feeble attempt of making the place seem homey over the reek of cheap beer and the occasional unwashed patron. The walls were white – or at least had been at one point, fading to more of a faint off-white, and there were framed newspaper clippings and old black and white pictures. It had all the look of what might have once been a friendly little bar – just off the port, probably for people who did more sailing than anyone did nowadays. Looking at the people it kept now, it had turned more into a refuge to the down-and-out of society. Kaiba had to wonder if the owner had gone before the change took place. Maybe he'd soon know how it felt to have his vision ripped out from underneath him like a tablecloth under a fancy dinner.

"You awake there, Kaiba? I've never seen a lightweight get glassy from just the fumes." Jounouchi was watching him with a superior sort of smirk, as though he was thinking, _Oh yeah, who's the better drinker?_

Under normal circumstances, Kaiba would've found the situation odd to the point of hilarity, but his day – and at the rate it was going, his life – was far from its normal circumstances, abnormal as they were to start with. If he was about to head into domestic hell, he might as well make the most of a few casual drinks with the enemy. Ignoring the mild insult, he asked, "What brought you here?"

"About the same, actually." Jounouchi laughed bitterly, closing his eyes and facing the ceiling. "After all, what else can you do when you're down and out except waste the last of your spare change on booze? Not that you'd know anything about lacking spare change, eh, Kaiba?"

"I might know a thing or two."

"Doubtful," Jounouchi spat, raising Kaiba's hackles in an instant; his hand clenched around the neck of his drink, watching as Jounouchi continued, "I'd take your life in a fucking heartbeat; it doesn't look like it's done you too badly. Mine? Man, it's fucking dull, and not like, 'Oh, I have the same fun every weekend,' dull. No, I go to a shit job every day, I come home to a liquored up ass – I come home, and I get trashed. The end." Another bitter laugh, another swig of his drink, and Jounouchi sighed, his tone turning wistful. "Two years ago we were fresh out of school, world-known duelists... Our lives were stretched out in front of us! With all the names we could've dropped, I bet every single one of us could have gone on to something amazing. Now... I always imagined twenty was going to be a milestone, not a grave. Something needs to give, something big, because I've got nothing left to lose."

Kaiba couldn't say that he didn't relate, but complaining wasn't something he did. He endured. That had always been the difference between himself and Jounouchi; when the blond was making sure everyone know how angry he was, Kaiba had always taken the hits quietly. He'd plotted, while the other had rushed straight to action. "Uh-huh," he intoned, swirling the contents of his drink lazily. He was on the verge of another silent endurance trial… It shouldn't have been a surprise; once he was the CEO of Kaiba Corporation he'd tried to lead the facade of a normal lifestyle, and as a natural part of life, he should have seen the relationship complication coming like a train at the end of the tunnel. His only consolation was that it would be something that was going to catch eyes – if his honor was going to take a hit then, damn it, it was going to go down in flames. He had to pick someone that was going to keep people talking…

Without realizing it, he'd been assessing Jounouchi while he thought, taking in the blond's posture, considering the risks… He didn't necessarily want to take the blond on as a personal publicity stunt; it was just that Jounouchi would be the perfect way to win this battle. Skewing the concept was sure to put Seiji's balls in a vice as well, and that was enough to make Kaiba smile, taking another sip of his drink. There was no way his tight-fisted advisor would let him take a male lover, not when he was attempting to play to the families. Japanese families did not want their young boys idolizing the creations of a gay CEO, and they would all realize that if Kaiba brought Jounouchi to the chopping block that had become his business.

Maybe he could come out on top after all.

If he failed, Kaiba would go by his old standby: endure. People would certainly have something to say about Jounouchi at his side – for as famous as his rivalry with Yuugi was, his dislike of the blond was almost equally known. Either way, it was going to be a setup worth remembering. "Let me get you another," Kaiba said, tapping the table with his index finger to make sure he had Jounouchi's attention; the blond looked as though he was a million miles away.

"Huh?" Jounouchi's head fell lazily to the side as he made eye contact with Kaiba. "Am I hearin' things already?"

"No," Kaiba said firmly, flagging down a waitress. "If you'll stay to drink with me, I'm buying; it'll save you the last of that spare change you're so worried about."

Worrying his lower lip between his teeth, Jounouchi looked from the oncoming waitress to Kaiba before shrugging. "Who'd have thought you came built with goodwill?"

"Rumor has it I don't," Kaiba said simply, ten steps ahead and plotting carefully while Jounouchi ordered.

Watching Jounouchi get progressively drunker was probably one of the most interesting things Kaiba had watched. He'd drank with business associates, but that was different, more controlled and sophisticated; the light buzz those men left with simply made them big smilers and looser with their checkbooks. Jounouchi was just drinking for the sake of being drunk; after another bottle, a shot or two at the bar when the bartender changed for the night, he stopped noticing that Kaiba wasn't drinking, smiled a bit more and a lot wider, stopped talking about whatever the hell was wrong with him... He looked at Kaiba just a little bit differently. It was the sort of drunk Kaiba rarely saw first-hand; he was glad he'd stocked the whole plan on it, because it worked like a charm. If he was really lucky, he could drop Jounouchi off tonight, and tomorrow the blond would barely remember him.

"You're nice, Kaiba," Jounouchi lilted, folding his arms on the table and tucking his chin over them. "Yeah. I like you when you're not bein' all snotty and rich and... you. Yeah. I like you a lot when you're not you." The blond nodded stupidly, smiling and closing his eyes. "But I s'pose if I fall asleep now, I'll be wastin' a good time, right? This is a one-time-deal. It's always like then when you're not an asshole – it's over in the blink of an eye. I guess bein' drunk makes it harder to blink." Jounouchi laughed, and Kaiba silently thanked him for leaving the sort of opening that he'd been waiting for.

"Depends on how interested you are in keeping it." Kaiba's stomach churned as he forced a smile, and Jounouchi raised an eyebrow. He looked more interested than Kaiba had expected – Kaiba had half expected an outright refusal. Instead, Jounouchi looked willing before he'd even heard the stakes. "You've got nothing to lose?"

"Absolutely nothing," Jounouchi said resolutely.

"And I need a partner – a business associate of sorts. It'll make you some money, and you won't lose anything. Maybe you'll even have something to gain." If Jounouchi was so interested then maybe... Yes, a shift in his eyes, a raise of his eyebrows; it got Jounouchi sitting up in his seat, fully alert and quite curious-looking – for all his inebriation, he sure did catch on subtlety. "Interested?"

Jounouchi put on an unaffected face – or tried, anyway. "Well, maybe – depends on the terms, of course," he said in a pseudo-intelligent tone, just a little wobbly.

"Follow me, then," Kaiba said, standing – he went to the bar long enough to pay for their drinks, Jounouchi staggering just a little bit behind him – he almost fell on his face out the door. Biting his tongue, Kaiba held up him by the waist. Jounouchi grinned sheepishly as he shoved Kaiba off.

"I'm a little drunk."

"It's okay – we can still do business." Kaiba had to admit he was fascinated with the way Jounouchi pressed against him – either from utter incapability to stand, or because he wanted to, Kaiba couldn't tell. His willingness, his stupid smile, how he went from desolate to acting like he was on top of the world…

Kaiba reminded himself that taking advantage of your enemies weaknesses was just part of the game... but with Jounouchi playing along so well, it made him feel less like he was playing fair. It made him feel deceitful.

---

Kaiba smirked at Seiji, leaning back in his desk chair and pushing the papers back towards his enraged associate. "You told me to find a lover – I did. All I need is you to witness his signing, to sign it along with him, and our other two witnesses – I called them about half an hour ago, so they should be here soon. After that it'll all be set. Of course, if you'd rather not, we can drop the whole ordeal…"

With a growl Seiji looked at the drunken blond, who was blinking rapidly, like his brain was trying to catch up with the conversation. "Wait, you're going to pay me to pretend to we're fucking?"

"That's exactly what he's proposing," Seiji said, turning red; if Kaiba was seeing right, he was pretty sure his eye was twitching. And as if clockwork, fuel to his fire made it's way to the room – Nori and Seiji's pet entered together, both as bewildered and out-of-it as Jounouchi seemed to be.

"And our other two witnesses – any one have anything left to say?" It gave Seiji every chance to stop the whole charade; they were playing chicken for Kaiba's reputation, and for the first time in a while Kaiba didn't go into the game one-hundred-percent certain about the outcome. Seiji glared at Kaiba, eyed the other two, who looked around – Kaiba was sure they had no idea what they'd walked in to.

"Wait, isn't this prostitution?" Jounouchi piped up; all eyes turned toward him, but Kaiba was the only one to answer.

"Not necessarily. I'm not paying you for sex, I'm giving you an allowance as my significant other."

"But there is sex involved?" Jounouchi actually sounded something shy of hopeful, for being the enemy. Luckily for him, all pretenses were off.

"That's not what we're discussing now. Are you in?"

"Shit – easiest money I ever made," Jounouchi said, scooting his chair closer to the desk. "Where's a pen?"

"Wait, him?" the youngest advisor burst, finally catching on. "A move like this is professional suicide. You would be throwing away your – "

Seiji held a hand up in interruption. "It's not suicide," he said carefully, eying Jounouchi – Kaiba felt his stomach coil. "On the contrary, it'll be fascinating. Two well know duelists with a recognized rivalry suddenly end up as mates? The press wouldn't ask for a better scoop. Not to mention a whole new dimension of people intrigued by the nature of the relationship…" Seiji leaned forward, plucking of the ballpoint pens off the contract and signing above his name on all three copies. "Have it your way, Seto-sama."

"This is insanity," the youngest said, but he signed right beside Seiji's named, followed closely by Nori, who could only smile at Kaiba as she leaned down.

"I bet you thought you had that won," she whispered, bowing her eyes to look over the contract. "But well-played; a little honesty could do the company good."

"Honesty…?" Jounouchi blinked, followed loudly with, "Kaiba, are you really gay?"

Seiji huffed and plucked the contract off of the desk, laying both copies side by side on the coffee table in front of Jounouchi, holding out a pen. "Take it in your own hands, Jounouchi. It's your fate you're signing over." As the blond signed – without even a second thought – Seiji turned to Kaiba and added, "If you can survive this, you'll have my commends."

When all was said and done, there were three copies of the contract with five signatures – Kaiba's, Jounouchi's, and the three witnesses. Afterwards, when Kaiba was left alone with his 'significant other,' the gravity of it suddenly kicked when he found himself looking at the mess he'd been given – a drunken blond who was staring at his hands in a rather diminished manner. He didn't like it.

To put it plainly, he'd lost.

"So, what sort of things do I have to do?" Jounouchi asked, yawning loudly. Faced with what he had done, and looking at what he was going to have to work with, Kaiba felt the alarm bells going off in his head. He hadn't been playing to lose; Seiji wasn't supposed to call his bluff.

"Act like a lover," Kaiba said slowly, leaving his surprise for later; right now he had to debrief Jounouchi onto what to expect, and expect the worst. "We'll have to spend time together, make appearances for the press. It'll be a good idea for you to stay overnight once in a while, for appearances. I'll have a guest room set up for you."

"Think we can start now?" Jounouchi smiled sheepishly, adding, "It's just that I'm tired, and I don't feel up to walking home from here."

"I can arrange for a ride."

With the air of a child caught in a lie, Jounouchi shifted uncomfortably and added, "No time like the present to get this contract in action. Some employee can slip up and let out that I joined you after a late night out."

Kaiba found the experience of being bested by a drunken moron dumbfounding; he sincerely hoped he didn't have to get used to it. "Fine; we'll go to your place long enough to get your things."

They'd gone to the car in silence, sat out the length of the ride in silence – Jounouchi presumably thinking and Kaiba fascinated as he watched the quality of the neighborhoods deteriorate around him. Even from behind the orphanage walls things hadn't looked this bad. It was his first time with an image to go with the acknowledgment that Jounouchi really was from the wrong end of Domino City.

The apartment complex they stopped in front of struck Kaiba as surprisingly well-kept among its much dilapidated neighbors. "I'll be back in a few," Jounouchi said, slamming the car door as he left. In under ten minutes he returned with a faded grass-green pillow and blanket and a backpack slung over one shoulder. Jounouchi was also carrying a half-emptied bottle of some sort, slamming back a swig as he fell into the limo; his belongings fell haphazardly to their feet and between them. "Let's roll."

After the car was moving Kaiba said, "When we arrive I'll have a room arranged for you – in the morning we can discuss everything more thoroughly."

Jounouchi nodded, taking another drink and settling back. "Just so we're clear, you're paying me act like we're together and happy AND you're giving me somewhere warm to sleep once in a while."

"Maybe I'll even buy you dinner," Kaiba added dryly; Jounouchi didn't look amused so much as boggled. "Yes, Jounouchi, because every now and then someone has to take the reigns and pull attention back to Kaiba Corporation. Like I said, we'll discuss it in the morning when you're sober."

"I'm not drunk," Jounouchi protested with a scowl, sinking back into his seat. "Lil' tipsy, maybe." He started looking out the window and frowning as though he was looking for something, trying to work something out. "I remember this... a little. Your brother brought us here. It was a trick then. What's the trick now, Kaiba?"

"There's no trick; everything was up front and honest."

A grumble was his only response, and the rest of the drive went without word from Jounouchi – it gave Kaiba a chance to call up the overnight maid and have fresh linens set out on the bed in the vacant room at the end of the hall, and to have it as aired out as possible in ten minutes. Not that Jounouchi was likely to know if it was a bit dusty.

At the top of the stairs Kaiba parted ways with Jounouchi, letting the maid take Jounouchi to the room prepared for him while Kaiba went the opposite way, to his own room. It was nearing midnight, and he'd had enough of one day, and only a little time to sleep before the next one started. He was asleep before he hit the pillow.

Sometime just before daybreak he'd woken to Jounouchi standing in his doorway, holding the molding tightly and hoarsely whispering, "Kaiba!"

"What?" Kaiba snapped, sitting straight up in his bed and glaring at Jounouchi in case he was still under the impression that they were friendly.

"If you don't tell me where a bathroom is right now you're going to have some very pissed off housekeepers." That was when Kaiba noticed how pale Jounouchi was, and how tight his grip on the door was. Nodding, Kaiba pointed to the closest one – the door on the left end of the bedroom. Jounouchi made a run for it, and even had the politeness to close the door behind him.

Kaiba tried to sleep through the blond's retching, but it was completely unavoidable; he couldn't escape the niggling feeling that it was his fault Jounouchi was so sick. He'd been the one pushing the drinks. _Not that he'd protested._ It didn't help.

After a few minutes the toilet flushed, and the door opened, leaving Jounouchi sagging against the door frame, eyes closed. "I'm fucking tired," he rasped, gulping breaths. It seemed only polite to offer Jounouchi a space in the bed, vacating it as the blond took the offer without protest. It was about time to get started for the day anyway.

Jounouchi was snoring when Kaiba got out of the shower, sprawled out against white sheets and half buried under the pillow. For all the irritation, the brawls and the battles, he fit nicely in the middle of the bed, wrapped in the posh comforter.

Kaiba would have to make sure he didn't get to like the image.

**-end chapter two-**

* * *

**notes**  
I meant to get this out a little sooner, but first there was going to Lawrence for the weekend, then the boytoy had a couple days off work, then there was Steak & a BJ Day, and tests, and eventually I got sick. 

But, anyway, here it is -- where we clear up nasty things like how old the characters are (whoops!) and what the deal with the contract is. Hopefully it comes across marginally believable. And there are two chunks of it that got fixed after purkle got the story back to me, and if I'm lucky they're not obvious. ;;;


	4. Part I: Chapter Three

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**Chapter Three**

When Kaiba found Jounouchi he wasn't hiding in Tragedy's End's corner booth. He was right at the bar, between a pretty girl who looked too young to be there and an older man who looked as though he was in mourning. Every now and then Jounouchi turned to the man and made a comment, but mostly he kept a conversation with the girl, who laughed often enough.

Kaiba waited until she left with another girl before approaching Jounouchi – he knew damn well it was going to be ugly. He could tell by the look on her face that even the bartender knew. Kaiba and Jounouchi had gotten into enough scuffles in this place for them to at least be recognized. Kaiba sat down, ignoring the scathing look he received from the barkeep. She didn't understood how Kaiba felt. Hell, Kaiba couldn't even entirely understand it, but no matter how angry Jounouchi made him, no matter how hard they fought, Kaiba wasn't going to let Jounouchi go down without a fight. When he'd signed that contract he'd taken Jounouchi's weight onto his shoulders, and like it or not he refused to let anything else take Jounouchi down.

Neither of them had anything to lose; they might as well fight together – even if it was against each other.

"Need anything?" the woman asked when Kaiba didn't leave, crossing her arms over her small chest. She had the build of a grade-schooler, but a face that suggested her demeanor was anything but. She huffed when Kaiba nodded to Jounouchi, but left them for another pair a couple of seats away.

"Dad had a poker game," Jounouchi grumbled, leaning down onto his elbows; his hair covered his eyes. "Didn't wanna see you either."

"You should know by now that I don't care why you do what you do." Kaiba leaned forward and attempted to slide Jounouchi's drink away from him; slender fingers wrapped around the glass in protest, keeping it in place. Kaiba gritted his teeth and added, "Yuugi asked me to find you."

"And since when do you care about Yuugi or me?"

"I care about appearances," Kaiba said calmly, much more so than he felt. "I told Yuugi I'd call when I found you, and I'd rather not tell him I found you trying to drown whatever sorrows you think you have. Besides, the bar at the mansion isn't going to drain you pocketbook."

"Ha! As though that's a problem anymore, thanks to you." Still, Jounouchi seemed to consider it, then let his head bow a little further, staring into the amber liquid in his glass. He sighed. "I didn't want to see you."

"You said that already."

Jounouchi's sigh was almost loud enough to fill the room, but no one except Kaiba paid him any mind. He paid the bartender, who said a quiet goodbye. "Yeah, okay," Jounouchi said.

---

He got Jounouchi home without any trouble; the blond even called Yuugi and managed to sound like nothing was wrong. It had to be some sort of miracle – everything was wrong. Kaiba watched Jounouchi hang up his cell phone and sink back into the chair, his eyes firmly closed; everything about his posture said he was getting ready to say something, and Kaiba didn't know what to prepare for. At a loss, he took a seat at his desk – and waited.

"I haven't told anyone," Jounouchi said softly, then a little firmer, "not Honda, not Anzu, not even Yuugi; no one in Domino but you knows what I've... what I'm really like." The blond shifted in his chair, throwing his legs up over the arm and resting his head against the opposite side. His eyes opened lazily, but he didn't look as though he was entirely gone. "So what keeps you from blabbing? It's not like Yuugi would tell the press, and wouldn't it make you feel damned righteous to tell Yuugi once and for all how bad his judgment is?"

Kaiba didn't take the bait; he knew exactly what kind of mind game Jounouchi was playing; he'd probably picked it up from the best. "I'm not going to make it any easier on you by spreading your bad news – your problems are just that, yours. I'll have no part of them."

"Except when you use them to your advantage."

"Yes." Jounouchi's mouth formed a clear line as Kaiba went for the kill; he didn't pull punches. "I used your weakness against you, and I won; now you have enough money to keep clothes on your back, food in your stomach, and a sufficient buzz so you can avoid the realization that while you're drowning in your self-inflicted misery, the world is moving on without you. I always knew you were a has-been, even while you were pretending you were something. You should be happy people even know your name anymore."

"You're fucked up," Jounouchi hissed, "and you do nothing but fuck me up with you. It's like you've got to be damaging someone or you don't know what the hell do with yourself. I'm surprised Mokuba made it out in one piece."

Kaiba didn't take that bait either; he balled his fists and waited it out. It was wrong that they were together. They were both deficient enough on their own; it wasn't like they needed to bear the weight of each other as well. And it was wrong that Kaiba was even bothered by Jounouchi's obvious barbs – he should have been able to handle Jounouchi's ups and downs without actually be affected by them. After so much exposure, it as wrong that Kaiba hadn't desensitized himself from the anger the way he had everything else.

The desk drawer snapped against its rails as Kaiba yanked it open to retrieve the half-empty bottle of aspirin, in hopes that it would soothe the throbbing in his temples.

"That shit'll kill your liver, y'know."

Kaiba waited as long to reply as it took him to toss his head back and take the pills dry; he couldn't resist a smirk at Jounouchi. He really had no fucking clue sometimes. "Like you're one to talk."

"That doesn't mean you should do it," Jounouchi retorted, moving out of his position without any sense of grace or even proportion of his legs; his feet hit the floor with an awkward and loud thump. He sat up straight though, and then leaned a little bit forward, like he was trying to lean closer to Kaiba. "It should make me an authority on self-destruction."

From whining to a sick sense of pride; it really was strange the way Jounouchi switched speeds as quickly as it would take if he thought he could be a step ahead of Kaiba. "While I'm glad you take your problems so seriously, you're far from an expert when it comes to that."

"Don't twist the idea! The point is that I don't… Ah, I don't – "

" – actually know what you're talking about, so drop it. I'm not your concern," Kaiba told him firmly.

"Fuck you, Kaiba!" Jounouchi leaned forward and pointed at Kaiba while he spoke. "You're too smart to do something stupid like depend on – "

"It's a painkiller," Kaiba snapped, pushing himself to his feet; Jounouchi responded in kind, even if not so steadily. It was interesting, this defiant streak Jounouchi was showing. Typically all getting drunk in the mansion meant was that they'd end up in bed, because Jounouchi couldn't resist sex when he was drunk. The vague promise of something new was intriguing. "If I have a headache, I take care of it. As soon as I remove the source, it's no longer a problem."

"That's called suicide."

"I prefer to call it 'Jounouchi.' It's far from a problem, and you're in no position to lecture me about being dependent."

For a drunk guy Jounouchi threw a punch with an amazing sense of balance, his fist hitting it's mark dead on. The wave of pain through Kaiba's gut had been expected, but that didn't make it welcome. He returned in kind, shoving Jounouchi to the ground without hesitation, without regard as the blond's head thumped against the carpet. Kaiba paused just as he brought a fist back, stuck just for a second on the brown eyes that looked up, completely level to his own – not even a bit of fear or worry in them. It reminded him just how tough Jounouchi was; no one after Yuugi had been so good at keeping him on his toes, creeping under his skin. Just the idea made him itch.

The fist came down against the carpet, muffled, and Kaiba leaned down close with it, almost nose to nose with Jounouchi. The blond raised an eyebrow, and then tilted his chin up just enough, his lips barely brushing Kaiba's. The motion made Kaiba smirk – less because of what it meant, and more because Jounouchi's eyes stayed open as though he expected Kaiba to be tricking him, or perhaps looking for a moment of weakness.

Kaiba wondered if Jounouchi knew he lost right then. Even when Jounouchi was trying to take him by surprise, in the end he was always the same. Once the anger wore off, Jounouchi just little more than a drunk teenage boy. "We need to work on your definition of hate."

"Hate is hate is hate," Jounouchi ground out, "but this is a job." He shoved Kaiba up, slithering from underneath him and sitting up, rubbing the back of his head. "We can't be out in public looking how we feel. Most people don't see the romance in a matching set of black eyes." Still, Jounouchi lashed a foot out, kicking Kaiba hard in the spine as the brunet made a move to stand. "Quit movin', I'm talking to you." Jounouchi leaned closer, palms flat on the ground so he could get close enough to whisper in Kaiba's ear. "People want to see soft, want cheesy little pecks on the cheek, gentle and happy. Funny, huh?" His tongue moved slowly over Kaiba's earlobe.

"Why?" Kaiba asked, his fingers trailing up Jounouchi's arm. Jounouchi didn't answer, moving further down, tongue making the trail across Kaiba's neck, lower set of teeth pressing the skin here and there.

"Because while we pretend we're the cutest gay couple in Japan, we're really fighting to see which one of us is going to snap first. Will I rip you out at the throat, or will you bury me like the bad news I am?" Kaiba's hand found a painful grip in Jounouchi's hair as Jounouchi's teeth dug into his shoulder, the blond moving closer, practically atop him. "We spend all this time feeling each other out, getting deeper and deeper into it – and we don't know when it'll break, only that it will."

Jounouchi stood, surprisingly steady as he went for the phone on Kaiba's desk. After pressing one button – eight, the number to call the maids – he said, "Elena, could you bring some _sake_ up to the office; I'm feeling traditional." After hanging up, Jounouchi wound around the desk, tripping once, and took a seat in Kaiba's chair. "Let's enjoy each other's company tonight, Kaiba."

Standing, Kaiba asked, "Because you want my guard down?" He took the seat that Jounouchi had evacuated, and the change in perspectives was dizzying. All the confidence Jounouchi had been teeming with seemed to fade at once, leaving Jounouchi looking tired and Kaiba feeling disappointed. There was nothing like fighting Jounouchi when he was at his best.

"Just once I'd like to pretend we're not enemies."

Kaiba had no response to that other than to sit silently and wait for their drinks. It did well to remind himself that he'd tricked Jounouchi here in the first place; much as he hated it, he'd brought the whole thing on himself. In this game of deceit, the least he could offer Jounouchi in reparations was to spend one night off the offensive.

**-end chapter three-**

* * *

**notes**  
Oh my god, I hate this chapter. --;;; Seriously, it's horrid, because I think the plot of the story takes over pretty quickly, so I suddenly realized, "oh shit, this needs emotional development or the plot falls apart!" And I did what fits into the story, but it seems so wrong. T.T So it now bears the question -- is the entire story off? I really do enjoy it, though. Keep me posted on what's wrong with it! A short note on this Elena character -- completely unrelated to the plot, just there to bring up the /sake/. I really dig the spelling "Helena" when pronounced as "Elena" in Japanese (though I'm pretty sure Elena isn't a Japanese name), so I thought I'd given random maid #45 a name for Jounouchi to know. ; 


	5. Part I: Chapter Four

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**Chapter Four**

When Kaiba woke up that morning, he _knew_ something was off. He pulled up his memory like an old file, trying to piece together events. He drank with Jounouchi – warm _sake_, like respectable Japanese men as they had mixed business with pleasure. They'd gone to bed, tossed the blankets –

There. Kaiba's blankets were on the floor, but he was still too warm, covered... And there was Jounouchi nestled tightly against him, the green quilt Kaiba so hated covering them both. Kaiba's initial reaction was to shove Jounouchi away and ask who he thought he was, but he paused; business has taught him that his initial instincts weren't always the best move. Instead, he took the time to study his enemy while the man was prone, available to scrutiny. Looking at Jounouchi like that, his features so at ease, no one would guess that there was something wrong with him... Except that the bags under his eyes were so prominent; he was practically sunken. Kaiba leaned a little closer; it wasn't often he got so close to Jounouchi and was able to just examine...

Then Jounouchi's eyes snapped opened, and he took Kaiba's first impulse to heart, shoving Kaiba away and scrambling off the bed in the same motion he pushed Kaiba to arm's length. The blanket came off the bed with him, and he pushed that away too. For a second he looked like he was panicking, and then it all seemed to settle – Kaiba watched with interest as he took a deep breath and went, "Ah, what the hell..." He rubbed his face and groaned. "What time is it?"

"About time for breakfast."

"Huh?" Blinking, Jounouchi looked at the clock on the wall, then back at Kaiba. Finally his mouth formed a silent "oh" followed by another groan. "Sunday. Why did I get wound up in this crazy tradition?"

"Preaching to the choir," Kaiba mumbled, swinging his feet over the bed and making his way to the closet. Sundays were the one day that Kaiba had set aside to spend at home. Most of the time he just did his work from there, but he took breaks with Mokuba, and they always had breakfast together. Given that they hadn't even bothered to tell Mokuba their relationship was a lie, Jounouchi became part of the tradition.

It was usually the longest hour of Kaiba's day.

---

"Good morning, Jounouchi; morning, _Niisama_," Mokuba said with a smile, paper spread out in front of him. "You're late."

"Slept in," Jounouchi mumbled, making an attempt to smile sheepishly; it turned out to look more like a grimace. "Have you been waiting long?"

Mokuba shook his head, reaching over the table to get his juice. "Just looking to see if they've mentioned the Sylph yet." Before either could asked, he added, "They haven't. But I'm starving! Wait here, I'll go let the staff know we're ready."

Kaiba took a seat at Mokuba's right, and Jounouchi sat across the table from him, leaning with his elbows on the table and his palms against his temples the second he was in the chair. "What are you going to tell him when it's all over?" he asked, his voice almost unsteady. Kaiba preferred it when Jounouchi was sick at night; watching him fight it in the mornings was just pathetic.

"The same thing I'm going to tell everyone else – we couldn't work out our differences after all."

Jounouchi snorted, folding his arms and pillowing against them, hiding his eyes against his forearms. "That've worked two weeks in; after this long it just sounds stupid."

"It'll do; everyone knows how hard we both try."

"Alright!" Mokuba said, entering the room with the cook staff pushing in the breakfast cart behind him, looking as cheery as they were paid to. While breakfast was being served he collected his paper, folding it neatly and sliding it down the table; it went to far and fell to the floor with a sort of flutter. "Whoops. Anyway, what's new with business, _Niisama_?"

Kaiba loved the attention Mokuba set to business, even when they were supposed to be playing family over breakfast. He would forgo it entirely if Mokuba did nothing but ask about Kaiba Corporation. He'd ended up with the perfect business partner; in no time at all Mokuba would be able to legally take over by his side. "The press dinner is in about a month. Are you planning on being there?"

"Yeah; I can't wait to see everyone's reaction to what you've done," Mokuba said with a smile that was sort of fond, sort of cocky; he leaned back as one of the staff poured him some more juice. "Jounouchi, do you have a suit?"

Jounouchi looked up from the crook of his arm with the expression of a dying man, blinking and taking a deep breath. Inwardly Kaiba cursed him for having such an obvious hangover. However, better hungover than drunk; of all things Mokuba wasn't going to see, Jounouchi when he was drunk was towards the top of the list. "A suit?" Jounouchi asked; the girl serving breakfast sat a plate in front of him as well as a glass of water, and he sat up further, taking the glass and ever so slightly pushing the plate away. "What for?"

"The dinner," Mokuba replied in exasperation, sighing heavily. "Geez, I'd think you'd be used to this stuff by now."

"How's school been?" Kaiba interrupting, pulling Mokuba's attention back to him, leaving Jounouchi to lie his head down. He curled into himself just slightly, and Kaiba could hear him take another deep breath.

Jounouchi interrupted the beginnings of Mokuba's answer with, "I'll be right back – nature calls." He managed to rush without looking like he was in too much of a hurry, and it went without comment from Mokuba; he just went on about a project he was working on. It was for science, or maybe social studies. Kaiba couldn't keep listening, distracted and responding on autopilot rather than actually comprehending. It wasn't that he didn't care, just that he kept replaying the last twenty-four hours.

Perhaps the last two years.

Something about Jounouchi had always been... magnetic, even though he'd never been terribly interesting. He'd always just been the right hand of Yuugi, a punk, maybe even a bit of a comic relief sometimes – the things he did when he thought he was hot shit always amused Kaiba on some level. The fighting was always like Jounouchi thought he could prove himself better if he just fought back enough, fought just right, hit the right soft spot... He probably kept it up past high school, after the dueling and after the rivalries, because he had never succeeded. Everything else was over, and Jounouchi had never gotten better than Kaiba.

Now... Now he was pathetic, he was boring. Reflexively Kaiba's fist clenched, because it wasn't the Jounouchi with some semblance of strength that had caught him, it was the Jounouchi that had lost self control. It was a shadow of the Jounouchi who had fought him years ago.

That was the Jounouchi that was dragging him down now, sharing his bed and pulling Kaiba closer.

Jounouchi returned without Mokuba noticing that Kaiba hadn't been paying attention, and he looked like he felt better – he looked like shit, but at least he was sitting upright and pretending to pick at his food.

"_Niisama_, can Jounouchi and I go out to get something for the dinner? He needs a suit, obviously, and all mine are getting to be too short." Mokuba beamed at the statement as though it was his greatest accomplishment.

Holding in a smile of his own, Kaiba asked, "Why today? It's not for a month yet."

"Well, we're got to take time to get measured, look around, and then hope they actually get them modified and ready in time. Plus, it'll give you time to finish whatever work you brought home early, that way the afternoon can be free for you and me."

"That'll be fine." As a rule Kaiba tried to restrict the time Mokuba and Jounouchi spent alone together as much as he could without rousing suspicion. He didn't want it to look like he didn't want his lover to bond with his family, but he didn't; he didn't want Mokuba to accept Jounouchi as family so it would be easier on him when it all fell apart. "You two can even stay out for lunch – it'll take me about that long to finish what I have to."

"Great!" With that Mokuba turned contentedly back to his breakfast. He kept the conversation going to some extent, trying to get Jounouchi into the idea of wearing a suit; from the colors of the undershirt to why colored suits were tacky, he talked it out like a pro. He even asked Kaiba where the best deals were.

"Your brother can buy anything he wants," Jounouchi not-quite-quipped, looking up at Kaiba. "Deals don't matter."

The terseness of the comment wasn't wasted, but Mokuba forwent replying and said, "I'll make sure you buy a good suit – it's not like you'd have the experience to know how." With that breakfast ended, and Kaiba walked with them to the foyer. Mokuba dropped down onto the step to retrieve his shoes, and sighed. "Jounouchi, didn't anyone ever teach you any manners?" he asked, motioning to the heap of green jacket on the ground by the coat rack. Jounouchi only shrugged, standing beside Kaiba with his arms crossed. He didn't move to pick the jacket up, and Mokuba didn't persist.

Kaiba called the driver from the service phone by the door to let him know that Mokuba and Jounouchi were waiting out front, and that Mokuba was in charge. He watched as Jounouchi sat to put his shoes on, but didn't look at Kaiba when he stood up; his eyes stayed cast down when he kissed Kaiba's cheek – a weak ploy for familiarity, but enough to disgust a watching preteen.

"Okay, okay, mushy time is over, sheesh. Let's go."

After the door clicked shut behind them Kaiba turned to look at the jacket by his feet. "Stupid," he muttered, leaning down to put it up before he headed up to his bedroom. He didn't know why he hadn't just left it there, or even just put it on the coat rack. If he had waited long enough, one of the housekeepers would have hung it up for him. Still, he went to his room and tossed the jacket onto his bed, going to the computer. He had to get a lot done for the upcoming dinner. The company was in a frenzy of final checks on the system, the first dozen games they had prepared – not to mention that half-done ones – and last minute tweaks in the design...

It was a mess. Kaiba's least favorite part of business was his magnetism, the flair with which he could get the world's attention. If they would have let him sit in the basement and design products all day, he'd have been much happier.

Within ten minutes of sending out memos and approving different tests and changes to the system, Kaiba came across an e-mail about Jounouchi – from Nori: "I know it's a little of a ways away, but the end of the contract is approaching. You need a plan of action."

The end of the contract. Kaiba leaned back, rubbing his eyes a little. There was going to be a backlash from the public no matter what they decided to do to end the relationship. Kaiba's preference was just to say that Jounouchi had been a cheating liar, but the blond has refused to have that branded to him. It hadn't really mattered, though; whether they said that things just didn't work or went out in a blaze of fists it would please some and enrage others. Nori had suggested a duel, but Jounouchi had hated that even more. "You'd want me to lose," he said, "and that means playing like some heartbroken chick who couldn't duel my way out of a paper sack. I'm not sticking that to my reputation."

Secretly, Kaiba had agreed. Hating Jounouchi hadn't extended so far as expecting him to ruin his name – whatever was left of it.

And then there was a noise -- Kaiba looked around, going through his mental catalog of devices that gave off two rapid beeps. There was a humming, and again, the quick beeps. His eyes wandered to the bed, and he went towards it without really thinking about what he'd find until the cell phone was in his hands. It was flipped closed, but that wasn't something to stop Kaiba; he opened it, musing aloud, "How long has he had this?" There was one new message; the background screen and color scheme of the phone was generic, nothing flashy or distinctively Jounouchi. Even the ring had been boring. Hell, the message was probably a generic "Welcome to Our Service!" message... but that wasn't enough of a reason for Kaiba not to read it.

"Great news! Call me after I get off work."

Normally Kaiba didn't consider himself nosy – he stuck his head in where it was needed – but he would admit to having a healthy dose of curiosity. That was his excuse for taking out his own phone and calling the number in the 'from' field of the message.

It went to straight to the voice mail: "You've reached the phone of Takagawa Yuumi; I'm not available – " Kaiba hung up and set his phone down and put Jounouchi's back in the jacket pocket where he found it.

Takagawa. What sort of good news could Takagawa possibly have for Jounouchi; certainly not, "I'm bearing your child;" if so, Kaiba was definitely making Jounouchi out to be a cheating liar. Going back to his desk, Kaiba found his aspirin, took two dry. After making a hefty effort to ignore his headache, he reply to Nori's e-mail:

"We'll wait and see what happens."

**-end chapter four-**

* * *

**notes**  
I love Mokuba; he's this great character, sometimes as a balance to Kaiba's extremism, and other times being complimentary to it. I've always ended writing him more independent, making his path in the world without Kaiba, so it was a lot of fun to work with Mokuba when all he wanted to do was work with his big brother. I imagine even Kaiba couldn't hide the hit KC has taken in this story from Mokuba; the kids crafty. 

And he doesn't seem to like Jounouchi very much right now. ;

Thank you to purkle, who took time to look over it and give me such wonderful input about how the story seems to be headed; I'm worried about making wrong turns! ..;


	6. Part I: Chapter Five

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**Chapter Five**

Bringing on a bookkeeper at all had been one of Seiji's suggestions – it was supposed to take some of the workload off the secretaries, who stayed busy enough, and there was never a lack of paperwork within the corporation. Hiring Takagawa Yuumi had proved successful; she was quiet, needed little guidance outside her training, and kept the filing rooms on Kaiba's floor in perfect order. Over her two years of employment, seeing Takagawa had become common enough that Kaiba rarely paid her any mind, and uncommon enough that he never really had to deal with her. Every now and then she had to bring him some paperwork or get his signature for someone, but that was it.

It was about a week before the press dinner when she darkened his doorway, uttering a soft, "Do you have a moment, Seto-sama?" In the past three weeks Kaiba had thought of her all of twice – when he read her message, and when Jounouchi hadn't given any reaction to her message; Kaiba had expected to see at least some change in him. Seeing her there reminded him of his piqued curiosity.

"Yes. What is it?"

"I need to get your consent to look at some records," she explained, crossing the room in a brisk walk and pressing the papers down to the desk; she kept her palms pressed against them for a moment, taking a deep breath before she backed off and stood up straight, her shoulders back.

Kaiba eyed the papers, looked up at her and tried to read her. "And why do you need to be in anything you need consent for?"

She shifted again, gripping her hands in front of her; she kept a strong tone. "Spring cleaning. Right now I'm going through the archives and sorting old contracts, finding the ones that are obsolete and the ones still in effect so we can better find them if we need to. We have an off-site handler for the really old ones, and I'm going to move some of the more recent contracts out of the basement, leave some down there... You know. Busy work."

"Sounds tedious." Kaiba shrugged, pulling the papers towards him and rotating them so he could scan what it said. Her purpose was filled in on a handwritten line. All of the typed parts looked like a lot of bull about clearance and privacy and security; she'd already signed the paper. "No one's done this yet?"

"I suppose not; the company went through a lot of reconstruction and hired hundreds of new employees a few years ago, if I understand it right; there's still a lot of old documents that haven't been properly organized. It keeps me in the job." She smiled weakly; she was still too stiff.

Kaiba signed the papers, holding them out to her. "How is Jounouchi doing?"

Her hand froze mid-reach for the release forms, and she blinked. "You should know better than I do," she said slowly, taking the papers and watching Kaiba like she was waiting for him to strike.

She wasn't so far off the mark. "He's been busy; I know he spends a lot of time with you. He's been in an exceptionally good mood."

"It's nothing indecent," she replied firmly. "Jounouchi is a good friend."

"Does he share good news with good friends?"

She stammered just slightly; maybe she was catching on. "O-of course – but you know as well as anyone, I'm sure, that Jounouchi rarely has good news."

"Rarely isn't never."

"I – "

The door opened and Nori sauntered in smiling. "Well hello, Yuumi. I hate to be a bother, but I need to talk with Seto-sama for a bit."

Takagawa inclined her head. "It's not problem; thank you, Seto-sama. Have a good day." With that Takagawa left the room, leaving Kaiba with his curiosity unsatisfied.

"And what do you need?" he asked, folding his hands on his desk and waiting for whatever bad news Nori had; as a rule if she didn't make an appointment to see him, she was delivering some sort of urgently terrible news.

"I want to discuss the dinner – we have a loose script to adhere to, after all, and it'd help if you knew it."

"You mean the same script for every press event? Be charming, be bold, and make them want more. I remember."

Nori shook her head, grinning with what was either pride or amusement; it was sometimes hard to tell with her. Kaiba couldn't imagine anyone enjoying a job that contained little more than playing puppeteer as much as she seemed to. "Not quite; we want you to tune down the shock factor a bit, and keep general likability high. You're approaching a new demographic with the Sylph, and the big video game nerds tend to be a bit on the paranoid side. Shut-ins, even; they probably wouldn't take to you hanging out of helicopters and taking over the city for the day the way that the Duel Monsters crowd did."

"Likable?" he replied. He didn't like the rest of what she said; it implied he was counting on wimps and imbeciles to revive his company. Then again, he had employed Jounouchi to help him do it.

"Yes."

"And how do you propose I do that?"

"Well, be nice – show your sensitive side a little." She winked, taking a spot on the love seat and crossing her legs. "You always look so good with Jounouchi; just lower the acting to a more domestic level than usual."

"Have you considered that it's going to look suspicious for us to be so close before the release, then break it off once the Sylph really takes off?"

She shrugged, leaning forward and examining the potted plant on the coffee table. "New pot?" Kaiba didn't answer, turning back to his work. He didn't have time to play charades with her about whatever it was she wanted to say. She'd either say it, or she'd give up and leave.

It took her a full five minutes to spit out what she thought. "Seiji would tell you that it doesn't matter – once the Sylph succeeds, we'll be just as much of a success. He'd tell you whether or not people realize that Jounouchi was a ploy is irrelevant."

"And you don't agree?"

"I do. Chances are that when this is over, Jounouchi will be old news faster than you can blink. People will move on to a new piece of gossip, and you'll be back in favor with the public. We'll have averted crisis, and it'll be the dawning of a new golden age of Kaiba Corporation."

Kaiba smirked to show superiority – but it was all he could do to avoid looking as relieved; he wasn't a superstitious man, but it was easier to believe they were really going to get out of this slump when he heard someone else say it. The idea of being back on his own two feet, on his own terms, was enough of a reward to have gone through over half a year with Jounouchi. "Then it's all a success."

"Not... necessarily." Nori shifted, looking at Kaiba almost petulantly. "Because I'm... Well, Jounouchi will walk away with more money in his pocket and your name to drop, but... Don't you stop and worry about him?"

"No."

"Not even the smallest bit? I mean, come on, Kaiba – it's been obvious from the beginning that he's not in a good place right now. The way he's been thrown around as a smoke screen for Kaiba Corporation..."

"I'm not worried about him." Kaiba didn't have the luxury to worry; he'd taken his guilt in check. He deceived Jounouchi. He used the other man's weaknesses, and he exploited them like a pro. Jounouchi had known him for years, known exactly what sort of man he was hopping into bed with the moment they met at Tragedy's End. If it bothered him now, then it was his cross to bear – not Kaiba's.

She sighed as she stood, adjusting the lapels of her jacket with a slight smile. "Then I guess you're right: this has all been a wonderful success." And just like that, she jumped gears, back to being cocky and smirking like she really did own the place. "Now, until then, don't screw up."

She was less irritating when she was acting normal; having something to contrast that against made it even tolerable. Kaiba wasn't sure how to handle employees who put someone else's well-being ahead of self-preservation. "I don't plan on it."

--

When Kaiba told Takagawa that Jounouchi was in a good mood, it was a relative truth. If Kaiba compared it to how Jounouchi usually acted, then he was in a great mood. If he compared Jounouchi to how he had acted when they met four years ago, he was in a foul mood.

Sometimes Kaiba had to debate which he should hold his standards to.

For three consecutive days Jounouchi had been bumming around the mansion; he'd played some games with Mokuba, slept in his own bedroom – he'd been staunchly avoiding Kaiba's room for about half the month – and just sort of followed Kaiba when nothing else was deemed entertaining. The worst thing about being followed around by Jounouchi was that one thing hadn't changed – he couldn't quite keep his yapping under control. "Just another week?" he said out of the blue from where he'd been resting on the sofa. Kaiba was doing paperwork, hardly paying Jounouchi's lounging any mind. On the rare days he spent in the mansion, Jounouchi was little more than a fixture, just another conversation piece on the table or the wall.

"What's in a week?"

"The release – one week after the press dinner, right?"

Kaiba nodded, sorting the packet of papers he'd been reading into the cabinet behind him and taking another out of a lower drawer. "Four days, actually; dinner tomorrow, and the release is Friday morning. They wanted to hold it off for another month."

Jounouchi hummed softly, sitting up and stretching his arms up; Kaiba heard his shoulders pop. "I'm glad they didn't. The contract... how long after the release do we call it quits? The contract doesn't say."

"Yes it does," Kaiba said, not holding back his exasperation. "The terms say that when the profit hits a certain amount, the contract ends. It could be anywhere from a week to a few more months." Looking up, Kaiba leveled his gaze with Jounouchi's – and noticed that the blond looked like he hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in some time; he was a bit slumped, and his eyes were so heavy... hell, he looked like he was shaking a little. More than tired, he looked... sick. Writing it off as a hangover, Kaiba added, "I want to get this over with just as much as you do."

"Yeah." Standing, Jounouchi made his way to Kaiba's space and leaning in from the side of his chair, kissing Kaiba – not like their rougher media kisses, or the pecks they faked for Mokuba, but as though he'd never kissed Kaiba before, as though he wasn't sure if he knew how. It was enough to shock Kaiba into submission, familiar enough that he didn't quite stop; it wasn't as though they hadn't kissed dozens of times before. Jounouchi's fingertips grazed Kaiba's chin as he backed away, lingering over him for just a second and licking his lips. "You confuse me, Kaiba."

"Huh?"

Then Jounouchi was standing upright, clearing his throat. "I'm going to go take a nap, and I'll probably go home after that. Do you want me to meet you here before dinner tomorrow?"

"Yes," Kaiba said, a little lost but no worse for wear. "Your suit arrived last night, and I'd like you here in the morning so we can make sure it fits. After lunch we have a meeting with Nori about conduct and the scripting of the night."

"See you in the morning then."

Once Jounouchi was gone, Kaiba took a moment to taste his own lips, trying to place the flavor, the difference. Of the various tastes that kissing Jounouchi had assaulted him with... It was a new one.

It didn't have the aftertaste of liquor.

**-end chapter five-**

* * *

**notes**  
Thank you to purkle -- I just realized what a nightmare this story can be! Brace yourself boys and girls, because I've got a lot to talk about. Sorry!

First of all -- you might have noticed in the summary that the story just got two chapters longer. That's because I apparently wrote seven chapters for Part I, not six. It really came as a blessing, because Part II could use the extra chapter to bring together the loose ends. Also, major props to the littledetails community (particularly rosewalker and ciorstan) for the details about contracts in big companies. I still sort of fudged around the exact details, but it helped a lot. I seriously suggest it for anyone with weird questions!

I ran into a sort of inconsistency within the story at the end of chapter four and the beginning of chapter five; Takagawa Yuumi. It occured to me later that at this point in the story we start calling her by her last name in the writing, but still by Yuumi in dialogue -- which lead me to wonder, what had I called her in earlier chapters? I found that'd I only mentioned her in earlier chapters (outside a few conversations) once, and that was as Yuumi. At the time, she didn't have a last name. ;;; I decided that since it was only once, and it was obvious that Takagawa & Yuumi refer to the same person, that it wouldn't be too horrible of an error to make the switch from first to last name. Sorry!

I looked at the span of time over part one -- and it's so scattered and ill-defined! Part of it is to contribute to the mood of this Part I, as it's supposed to be very rocky and confusing for all parties, but a lot of it really does seem sloppy, and I probably should've handled it a little better. So, to compensate for my shortcomings (lol), let me explain quickly: between chapter one & chapter three about a month passes. Chapters three & four are consecutive in time, and this chapter is -- as stated in the beginning -- three weeks after that. Hopefully chapter six will make sense when it's released. :D

Also; to the reviewers wondering how canon!Jounouchi came to be alcoholic!Jounouchi in this story: we've still got an entire half of the story to talk about this, lol. Part I is from Kaiba's point-of-view, and Kaiba & Jounouchi don't exactly have the sort of relationship where they talk about motives and issues. Have some faith, and I promise I'll try my best to tie everything together for you in the end.

Last but not least: shout out to rebootmaster and his conversation pieces. XD

I'm sorry these notes are so long! I suddenly realized that I had a lot to talk about regarding this story.


	7. Part I: Chapter Six

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**Chapter Six**

"I'm very glad to see you all here tonight." Nori addressed the group of well-dressed media hounds from her spot at the table at the front of the room, on her feet and speaking loudly; across from her was where Kaiba would be sitting, flanked by his brother and his lover. The other four seats at the circular table were filled by Seiji – the junior advisor was seated a couple tables over – and security. As she spoke to the audience of curious would-be investors and hungry reporters, Kaiba took a moment to revel in the moment. Everyone at the head table looked the part: well-dressed, shaved, and (surprisingly) sober.

As he waited in the wings for his entrance, ignoring the people fussing over his appearance one last time -- "Make sure to smile, Seto-sama!" -- Kaiba eyed Jounouchi. They'd spent almost an hour that morning trying to work out the nuances of a suit as though the blond had never seen one before. Kaiba had been sure he'd show up in jeans and a t-shirt in utter frustration by the time they made their lunch date with Nori. Despite his attitude earlier in the day, Jounouchi was sitting up straight, smiling a bit, and sipping from the glass of water in front of him, full attention on Nori as she continued her introductions, making mention of the more prestigious guests and bringing a more friendly feeling to the room; Kaiba saw people at the other tables shaking hands and making remarks to each other already.

Kaiba had to admit it – she was irritating, but she was good.

"And of course, there is the man without whom we would not be here," she said, turning and winking to Kaiba. The audience shared a chuckle as she continued, "So please give him your respect while I turn the floor over to him: Seto-sama, if you will."

Kaiba cringed before he stepped out; he'd made it very clear that he didn't want to be referred to that way in public. Still, he made the extra effort to hide his agitation as he strode out to the front of the room, his eyes running over all the tables and guests before he spoke – he stood shock-still, watching them intently. He wanted his opening to be something everyone would remember.

"The Sylph has been in and out of your media for months. Without any knowledge of its full capability or visual confirmation of its existence, you've whetted your appetites for it. Tonight, you'll see the system that'll be more sitting in more households than Nintendo in less than a month. Consider yourself honored." Off to the side, one of the aids was frantically swiping his finger across his throat, and Kaiba glanced at Nori to see her grimace. Right – he was supposed to be likable, not shocking. He relaxed into a smile, and the tense air that had settled over the audience seemed to dissipate. "Please enjoy the dinner we've prepared for you. Throughout the night engineers and businessmen alike will present the Sylph to you in every way. You'll leave here with a sense of enlightenment. Thank you for joining us."

With a thunder of applause he took his seat between Mokuba and Jounouchi; the blond hardly looked at him, instead looking wide-eyed at the caterers that flooded the room with arm-loads of foods and drink. Mokuba, however, leaned in to whisper, "Way to go – you really had them scared for a moment." He leaned further to Jounouchi, asking, "Well, aren't you excited?"

Looking over, Jounouchi grinned, lop-sided and classic Jounouchi. "Your brother is going to knock them dead. He's always been good at getting a crowd going." A waiter stopped by to place a glass of champagne before everyone at the table – only a raised hand from Kaiba stopped the young man from servicing Mokuba, watching Jounouchi all the while. Kaiba held a cynical sort of admiration at Jounouchi's restraint; he had one sip, then set the glass down and paid rapt attention to Nori as she reviewed the media attention that the Sylph had received in the last year to the crowd, drawing attention to the more outrageous ads and claims people had made over the year. Even Seiji paused in cynically eying the crowd to chuckle at some of the ads displayed on the large screen that was set up on the stage at the front of the ballroom.

In another twelve minutes, Jounouchi's hand rose to the stem of the glass, fingering it from top to bottom, then withdrawing as though caught in a crime. Kaiba looked away.

"Now," Nori said, drawing his attention back to the presentation, "let's enjoy our dinner and – once the first course has been served – we'll open the floor for general questions. Please save any specific questions for the end of the night, after the experts have addressed the finer points of the system."

The caterers had prepared dinner without a hitch. Every last head was accounted for, and there were no surprises. Once the massive room had been completely served, Kaiba circled the table, greeting and thanking some of the more important guests, particularly the potential investors; big names from Konami and Sega alike were there, looking to see if they wanted a piece of the action. Kaiba hoped that by the end of night they'd be biting and clawing their way to get one of their games on the system.

He hadn't realized the first press session had started until he heard the first question: "Mokuba, would you play the Sylph?"

Impishly and without hesitation, Mokuba answered, "I already have! Someone had to beta test it."

"And it measures up?"

"It raises the bar ten times higher than anything out there," Mokuba replied firmly; his face was stern. "There is no competitor who could stand up. What else did you expect from Kaiba Corporation?"

The room rose with laughter for a second, and Kaiba took his seat, murmuring, "Well done."

"Thanks."

"Kaiba, how do you reply to implications that the Sylph is a last-ditch effort to keep Kaiba Corporation in the race?"

"Untrue," Kaiba lied. "Video games are the final frontier for this company to breach, and even if it were, the Sylph would be enough to keep ten companies our size standing."

"Then it's also untrue that it's been rushed?"

"Yes."

Without missing a beat that reporter took his seat and another jumped up in his place. Questions went to Nori -- "How much of the advertisement has been smoke and mirrors?" -- and some were about Kaiba Land -- "Which project is the primary focus of Kaiba Corporation?" -- and back to Mokuba -- "What is your opinion as future vice president on this jump in products?"

It was fluid, it was fast-paced, and all the parties answering questions knew exactly what they were doing; Mokuba had the instincts of a businessman that even Kaiba had to admire, and Nori knew how to direct questions into any direction she needed to if they started to slide downhill.

Then came a reporter that stood out. She was entirely too pale to be Japanese, but she stood proudly and smoothed her skirt before speaking; her accent affirmed the fact that she wasn't a native. "Lynn Mae, US Weekly. Mr. Jounouchi, how do you feel about rumors of your involvement with Mr. Kaiba?"

Nori obviously held her breath, and Kaiba waited patiently, running quickly through all possible answers Jounouchi could give – prepared for his counter. If it went bad enough they could even start it as the basis of the end of their relationship.

"Rumors happen," Jounouchi said, nonchalant as ever. "I knew it'd happen when we got involved."

"Even the rumor that two recognized rivals couldn't be together at all?"

Jounouchi smirked. "Makes it exciting. But this isn't what we're here to celebrate, Lynn. Call me sometime."

Nori jumped up, rushing so well that if he hadn't known her Kaiba wouldn't have noticed. "Well, let's take a break and enjoy our meals. In a few minutes Madake Shizu will grace you not only with her lovely presence, but also technical details of the Sylph – keep your pencils ready and sit tight."

In the time between Nori's announcement and Madake's presentation all eyes were on Kaiba; to keep their interest and wonder, his eyes often wandered to Jounouchi.

"What?" Jounouchi hissed into his glass, gulping the amber liquid; apparently all pretenses of control were off. "Quit leering at me already."

"Keep your glass down," Kaiba replied in return, taking Jounouchi's hand. For the press their fingers twined romantically -- "Reassurance as they face public reaction to the Sylph?" a paper would later read – but once it was under the table Kaiba squeezed hard enough that it hurt his knuckles. Neither batted an eyelash.

"Afraid?" Jounouchi asked. He took a drink using his other hand.

Kaiba squeezed harder before he let go. "Wouldn't want to press to know that the best I can do is a lush."

"Enough," Seiji whispered over the table. "You're going to make a scene."

"Wouldn't want that." Jounouchi glared at Seiji as he stood, excusing himself politely for the nearby guests who turned him a curious eye. Kaiba waited until halfway through Madake's talk to follow, instantly wishing he'd paid to have the bar closed down in the hotel, because there Jounouchi was, a tall can of beer at hand.

"A full bar, and you go for cheap beer," Kaiba sneered, standing behind the drinking man. Jounouchi didn't turn to face him.

"I like cheap beer. It's familiar."

"It's pathetic," Kaiba snapped – then amended coolly, "You're pathetic. What did you in – having to lie on the record, or offering an interview? That was new for you, wasn't it? You've been in the center of the press for a while, but you've never had to divert someone's attention like that. I was almost impressed."

"Go to hell," Jounouchi seethed – hell, he was fuming visibly. Kaiba saw his empty fist clench against the stone bar top. "I'm not doing an interview, anyway."

Kaiba wasn't going to let Jounouchi off that easily, not when the blond was taking such a stupid risk, right there where the dinner was taking place. They'd talked about it! They'd plainly told him to get plenty of rest and to show up with a clear mind. "You'd have to sober up for the day."

"You don't know when to shut your damn mouth!" Jounouchi's hand whirled around, but somehow Kaiba found himself more surprised by the beer can that connected to his shins, spilling down his pants and landing on his shoes, than the fist that caught him in the jaw. It wasn't that hard of a hit – Jounouchi's heart wasn't in it. Jounouchi was finally on his feet, shoulders heaving. "Like you know the first thing about having real problems. Just... shut up already." Jounouchi stormed off, and Kaiba wanted to follow, felt the itch of indignation that came with letting Jounouchi walk as though his behavior was alright. He wanted the fight – but not as much as he needed the success that staying in the hotel guaranteed.

It took less than a minute to get an assistant to get Nori; she got out almost instantly. "What happened to you – where the hell is Jounouchi?"

"Damned if I know," Kaiba shrugged. He turned to the watching assistant; the kid was waiting and biting his lip. "Kid, my driver is out front – send him back to the mansion to get another pair of pants." With the kid gone, Kaiba turned back to Nori and elaborated, "It was just a small fight; he decided a glass of champagne wasn't going to cut it, I suppose. How long do we have left with presentations?"

"At least an hour and a half, probably a little longer," Nori said, crossing her arms over her chest and sighing heavily. "The press is loving it, Seto-sama; I won't be surprised to see people camping outside stores after the papers reveal the big secrets of the Sylph tomorrow."

"Good. Go back in; I'll return shortly."

"I... what about Jounouchi?" She turned red, and tapped her toes impatiently. "My god, as though we didn't tell him -- "

"Don't worry about it now – it'll look worse if too many big names are missing from the dinner."

She nodded and returned to the table; Kaiba stood watching from a door at the back of the room for half an hour. The presentations weren't interesting for him – he knew them almost word for word, from the graphic work, to the way the games were designed, to the coding behind it all. The press didn't really care about technical stuff; they were "oohing" and "ahhing" over images from the games, the design of the console and controllers, the superficial details.

Real people were going to eat it up.

Within half an hour Kaiba was in a fresh pair of pants and back at his table; when all was said and done he entered during the third presentation of the night – capabilities for games outside what Kaiba Corporation had designed, and how other companies' games would succeed on the systems. Kaiba made a note to demote the speaker; he made it sound more like the Sylph needed third party games, when he should have been driving the point that the third party game companies needed the Sylph.

Jounouchi returned in the middle of the final presentation – he made it to his seat quietly enough, but Kaiba could smell that he was completely loaded. Still, he stayed quietly during the presentation, sat steadily in his seat. He even smiled at Kaiba in the nicest way, and Kaiba saw the flash of a camera go off somewhere in the room. The picture would probably look very sweet.

During the final question period Jounouchi leaned over and stole a press kiss, deep and exaggerated; Kaiba nearly gagged on the flavor. He couldn't even distinctly place one alcohol's taste.

Lynn Mae was the first person on her feet after that – while Jounouchi took a deep swig of his champagne, she asked, "So all is well in paradise?"

Jounouchi spoke with surprising coherence. "I guess I'll find out in the papers tomorrow."

**-end chapter six-**

* * *

**notes**  
Thank you to talonthehand -- everyone needs a geek around the house when they're writing a story about a video game console, lol. No, he was very helpful early on about logical it would be for a system to come out in a press dinner... not to mention his help with the contract, but we've been there and done that. He also let me know that a dozen games was not really enough to have ready for opening day of a system, but I thought to ask that after I'd already posted that the number was a dozen so, oops. ;

I laughed at myself after looking this chapter over before it went to purklegragon (thanks, babe!) because Kaiba notices that she's too pale to be Japanese -- but that's totally the marshmellow calling the snow, white. ...Ahh, I lose at being clever tonight. Anyway, made me giggle.

Alas, I'm off to Dallas for the weekend to enjoy A-Kon -- if you're there, keep an eye out for the red-head with the camera. (Er, good luck with that!)


	8. Part I: Chapter Seven

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**Chapter Seven**

"That was a stupid move!" Nori shouted at Jounouchi. The ballroom had cleared out, and Mokuba had been sent home while Kaiba stuck around for the damage report. "Do you have any idea what's they'll say about an answer like that?"

"I thought the... there's no..." Jounouchi laughed, but Nori didn't join him; Kaiba had to admit that he'd never seen her as riled as she was right then. It had only taken a little more champagne to throw Jounouchi's cognizance out the window. Luckily no one else had asked him questions. "No such... y'know, bad publicity."

"Except when you show up smelling like a wino and spouting the truth! This isn't some game! Regardless of how it's presented, Jounouchi, an openly gay CEO is a scandal, and you are going to be remembered in it for quite some time. If you want people to remember you as drunk and unhappy then that's fine by me!"

"Of course it is – as long as the guy who signs your paycheck gets rich. Couldn't afford to squeeze that tight ass in designer jeans on minimum wage, couldja, Nori?"

Kaiba had never seen Nori blow up – and never seen Jounouchi drunk enough to push her buttons. There'd always been a sort of playful decorum to them; once in a while Nori would say something to irritate him, or she'd get tired of trying to have a conversation with a drunk, but Jounouchi was always kind to pretty women.

Regardless, he'd never forget seeing his public relations agent backhand his drunken lover hard enough that his head snapped back. Jounouchi blinked, mouthing a small, "Ow," as he touched his cheek.

"He signs your paycheck too," she hissed. "You're nothing better than a common whore – and a spoiled one at that. You're a fool and you're cruel and I hope that when you crash, you crash hard." She took a deep breath, straightened out her posture, and addressed Kaiba with surprising calm; after a few words she managed to hold down the waver in her words. "Dinner was a success; I imagine the Sylph is going to headline a lot in the next week, probably longer. Congratulations, Seto-sama." She left them alone in the ballroom, and Kaiba took a moment to look Jounouchi over. Dressed up in a suit, hair done – he looked so nice, and he'd hit a low so bad that even Kaiba couldn't bring himself to rub the blond's nose in it.

"Kiss me," Jounouchi said solemnly, looking up with wide eyes that were half-hid behind his hair. God, he looked like he was dying; had Jounouchi always looked so sickly, or had it happened when Kaiba wasn't paying attention?

"Why?"

Jounouchi tried to whisper – it made him sound drunker. "Because Ms. Mae is trying to hide with a camera in the doorway behind us, and I'd be a bad whore and employee if I didn't offer her a juicy bit. Besides, she'll never get her interview."

"She's not getting a scoop tonight, either."

"She's got a scoop anyway," Jounouchi said, so exasperated, as though that was it. "There's not enough denial... you can't... She didn't miss that. Too late, anyway."

Again, all Kaiba could think to ask was, "Why?"

"Because she's already left."

--

US Weekly didn't print anything about Kaiba and Jounouchi the next day, or even the second, but Kaiba left a note to Nori that she'd want to keep an eye out. He didn't want to risk contacting them to shut Lynn Mae up; the last thing he needed was to piss off a reporter who could offer her story to anyone.

Meanwhile, the Sylph was a hit – two offers from Sega already, and they'd only seen the tip of the iceberg. Even Mokuba caught wind of rumors at school, and if grade schoolers were talking, then Kaiba had the system sold.

In the hustle of the final day before the release, Kaiba found it odd that he noticed Jounouchi's absence; since his spat with Nori the blond had been scarce – and for once, Nori didn't hound Kaiba about it. During lunch on the final day she asked, "Where's he at? He doesn't usually hide."

Shrugging, Kaiba only replied, "If he's smart, he's waiting for the Sylph to take over the media."

"I... I don't think the media is his issue," Nori said, kindly tossing a copy of US Weekly onto his desk. "That woman must have had some bargaining chip." On the cover, in the corner, was the picture Kaiba had remembered someone taking, the one of Jounouchi smiling. He had been right – it did look sweet.

"God damn it," Kaiba muttered, flipping to the appropriate page. There was a picture of Jounouchi and Kaiba in the ballroom – before the fight with Nori, when Kaiba had started scolding Jounouchi for his stupidity. It looked tame, compared to the fights they'd had. "I'll be damned, she really was there," he laughed, glancing at the article.

_The media has put a lot of glitz and glamor on the relationship between Seto Kaiba, world famous CEO of Japan's Kaiba Corporation, and Katsuya Jounouchi, a kid from Domino City. At the pre-release dinner for the Japanese video game console, The Sylph, both Mr. Jounouchi and Mr. Kaiba answered questions about the console, games, finances, and their love life. Despite hints that the "love" is a facade, Mr. Jounouchi says, "We're a normal couple. Sure, we've had our fights, but we're happy."_

"Hmph, happy," Kaiba snorted, closing the article. He didn't need to read anymore to know that it didn't say anything he needed to worry about – it looked like Jounouchi had done his interview, and he knew as well as Kaiba did that one of the provisions of his contract was his secrecy about the arrangement. He wasn't going to risk it, not for a nobody like Lynn Mae.

Kaiba was offering more than Lynn Mae or US Weekly ever would when it came to that scoop.

"Thank you, Nori; go ahead and focus on something else. There's more to be worried about than Jounouchi."

The punches didn't stop there; Seiji came in to congratulate him on surviving to the Sylph. Forever the backhanded complimenter, though: "If you're lucky, the fiasco with your lover will be forgotten in the next week. I really think you're going to have trouble regrouping if it doesn't."

Next came Takagawa – handing in her resignation. "On the eve of the release of this product," Kaiba said with an exaggerated calm, "you're quitting. We're going to be getting a lot of contracts in the coming months and years, Takagawa."

"I know that," she said, biting her lip. She looked guiltier than she should have. "I finished my spring cleaning, so at least my replacement won't have to worry about the old contracts. The system I set up is simple, so it'll be easy to teach. After the Sylph, I'm sure more people than ever will be lined up to work for you."

"And... dropping the smoke screen," Kaiba waved her letter at her, "about stress and family problems, exactly why are you quitting?"

"I... by the end of the night, I don't think you'll regret my decision. Seto-sama, you've been a good employer. You're scary and hard to work with, but there's not a company in town that takes such good care of it's employees. I don't deserve that." She scurried out, and Kaiba dropped her letter of resignation in the trash can. It was nonsense. With an aggravated growl Kaiba got his aspirin out of the desk drawer and took four, looking at the Sylph counter.

Thirteen hours.

--

"Welcome home, Seto-sama," the butler said at the door. It was unusual for the help to greet him at the door; he'd made it clear when he became the man of the house that he preferred it if they didn't. "Jounouchi is waiting for you in the pool room."

"Did he say why?" Kaiba asked, handing his briefcase to the man – might as well use the help if he had it.

"Only to speak to you there – privately."

Kaiba found Jounouchi sitting at the poolside, jeans rolled up to his knees with his feet dragging lazy lines through the water. "Welcome home."

"You lied about not giving Mae her interview."

Jounouchi didn't seem surprised at all. "I didn't go to her; I was cornered in an elevator at the hotel after you left."

Kaiba had gotten Jounouchi a room for the night with explicit instructions for the mini-bar to be emptied; the receptionist had set housekeeping up to do it immediately. Jounouchi had been given the key card and ordered to sleep it off. At that point, Kaiba had wanted nothing to do with Jounouchi, didn't want him in the mansion just so he could crawl into Kaiba's bed before morning, expecting...

"And when a pushy American offers to out you as a whore if you don't give her an interview – damn it, Kaiba, I had to own up to what kind of life I signed myself over to. She may not print it tomorrow, or even this year, but while I lied through my teeth we both knew she had the story of the year when she needed it."

Kaiba walked closer, stood just beside Jounouchi and looked down at the top of his head. It wasn't as shaggy; it looked like he had gotten a haircut. "You didn't mention the contract."

"You should know that no matter what I am, Kaiba, I've always been honorable," Jounouchi growled. "I'm not going to ruin you out of spite. But she doesn't need to know it was a contract to know that it wasn't about romance."

Kaiba took a step forward, then another until he was just at Jounouchi's back. "I'll have her honor if she prints it."

"Of course you will – you'll but in and out of anything you need to." Jounouchi looked up at Kaiba, traced a finger along his forearm. "For a second, though, try to imagine what I'll go through when that goes down."

"I can't drag myself to that level."

"Then let me help." A hand tight around his wrist – and then Kaiba was all but thrown into the pool, held down under five feet of water. He held his eyes open despite the chlorine, but the only light he was getting was from the pool's underwater lamps. No matter how he thrashed, Jounouchi kept a tight grip, and Kaiba knew for damn sure that at least one foot caught the blond in the stomach. Not one to waste energy, Kaiba stilled, and saw someone from underwater for the first time – Jounouchi was so distorted Kaiba barely recognized him except for his mop of hair and the jacket he was wearing.

That green jacket he'd had as long as they'd known each other. Kaiba hadn't seen it since they'd been together.

Without warning Jounouchi's lips were pressed to Kaiba's, first in a chaste kiss and then slowly, slowly his tongue pressed past Kaiba's lips – and he exhaled slightly, just enough for Kaiba to realize that Jounouchi – in some insane act that could have only made sense to him – was trying to breathe for him.

Then he yanked Kaiba above the surface --

And Kaiba punched him in the jaw before he gasped for air. To his surprise, Jounouchi didn't swing back. His face was turned away for a moment, but when he looked to Kaiba he didn't look angry.

"That how you made me feel," he said evenly. "It's the worst feeling in the world, because I'd have just let myself drown if you hadn't made it so exhilarating to struggle. Fuck, Kaiba... loving you made me wish I was dead more times than I care to count."

"Wait, this has nothing to do with – "

"I'm done, Kaiba. Tonight, we're destroying this."

"How – " Kaiba couldn't get the sentence out, interrupted by his own coughing, and Jounouchi didn't give him the chance to finish.

"I've got the contracts -- all five originals, and both copies. We're going out on on the grounds, out by the back wall. After tonight, this didn't happen."

It was such a wishful idea, a cowards way out, but being confronted by Jounouchi... When Jounouchi had been a passive enemy for so long, Kaiba couldn't say no. Jounouchi right then was so more like the Jounouchi he'd _enjoyed_ fighting with, the Jounouchi whose absence he'd been wondering over... "Fine. Let me change clothes."

Kaiba changed quickly and met Jounouchi at the foot of the stairs. The blond nodded and said, "Follow me." As they walked to the back door, out over the grounds, Jounouchi continued his early train of thought: "You can buy your way out of the story when it breaks, but the rumor would stick, and it'd stick to me. I can't buy my way from this. All I can do is run from it, and hope it doesn't follow me."

"You can't erase the media, Jounouchi."

"No, but I can go beyond it. I can go right under the radar and be forgotten in a week. I don't even care what you tell people; tell them I stole off with some good looking housekeeper, for all I care. I'm leaving Domino tonight, Kaiba."

Kaiba smirked as they approached they're destination – a pile of clothing it looked like, but on further examination Kaiba recognized parts of it. The suit from the dinner, the outfit he'd been wearing when they signed the contracts, the quilt that had been such an eyesore, Jounouchi's pillow – and beside it all, a three-quarters full bottle of Jack Daniels. "This isn't a smart move, Jounouchi. You know how the contract ends – in return for your silence, you're going to be taken care of, given a regular... pension, if you will. Your living expenses and groceries would be covered; all you'd need was enough of a job to pay for your hobbies."

"That doesn't matter, Kaiba; I've saved enough of the money I've gotten from you now, and I can get a full time job. You should know I wouldn't rat you out for money, anyway. Money is the least of my concern." Jounouchi reached in his back pocket, producing a sheaf of papers that Kaiba hadn't noticed, carefully tri-folded. "Yuumi found Seiji's copy of the contract in the basement with the out-dated contracts, and his pet gave me his copy willingly, and stole Nori's. Tell her I'm sorry, by the way." Jounouchi handed a copy to Kaiba, kept one for himself, and in a random act of violence threw the rest onto the pile; they landed in a fold of the quilt. "Three witnesses and two copies, all right there. The only two left are your original and mine."

Kaiba didn't ask why he had Jounouchi's, didn't bother wondering if his was in the blond's hands. It was too obvious, too painfully cheesy. "So this is your solution – burn it all, and hope it'll go away. It's pathetic."

"It's the least of my dishonors. You won't suffer for it." Jounouchi leaned down to the bottle, gripping the neck – hesitating, just for a second before he upended the contents onto the pile, the reek of alcohol assaulting Kaiba's senses. Jounouchi tossed him a cheap Bic lighter. Kaiba caught it with one hand. "Cheers."

With the flick-click of a cheap lighter, the corner of the contract dangling from Jounouchi's fingers caught fire and after a moment Jounouchi dropped it onto the pile – Kaiba followed suit. Jounouchi sat near the base of the growing fire, watching in silence; Kaiba stayed on his feet, watching Jounouchi just as quietly. Firelight played on his features, lit his skin and colored his hair, flickering with the wind and catching his eyes. It almost looked as though Jounouchi himself was burning, and for a second that seemed alright.

It was what he had been asking for, after all.

"We coulda had a good time," Jounouchi said, not quietly but not loudly – and he didn't supplement the idea. After a bit the fire died down to smoldering embers, but they didn't leave until it was completely dead and cold. When the sun rose that morning, it caught Kaiba and Jounouchi sitting parallel, a cold darkened smear in the middle of bright green grass. Kaiba didn't know what drove him to stay; it just seemed wrong to leave prematurely.

"Congratulations," Jounouchi said softly, and Kaiba blinked, trying to piece it to any one part of the night. And then he remembered. How could he have forgotten?

It was the release date of the Sylph.

**-end part I-**

* * *

**notes**  
So! This chapter is the chapter that built this whole story -- well, the pool scene. Originally, this was some lewd oneshot that dealt more with the sexual aspect of the relationship as being a prison, and it ended with this. 

Obviously I don't know how to quit while I'm head. d

Much thanks to purkle for her time as a beta -- and making me feel good about this chapter with all of two lines, lol. Also, thank you to Clarity for pointing out that it would make sense for there to be a provision in the contract to ensure that Jounouchi would keep his mouth shut once all was said it done.


	9. Part II: Chapter Eight

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**_Part II_  
Chapter Eight**

"All right, you weasels," a voice barked over the radio on the dashboard of taxi #74; it was gravelly, shaped by too many years of smoking and shouting over the transistor. "Which of you is closest to the Ramada?"

The driver, his feet up on his passenger seat, knees bent in allowance for the stick shift, reached over to his transmitter. He didn't look up from the magazine on his knees but paused in chewing his gum long enough to answer, "I'm two blocks away."

"Good – you've got three minutes to get there. You fuck this one up, and I will kill you personally."

"Aw, you're still sore that I beat your ass at poker last night. Tell your wife I said hi."

"Off your ass, Jounouchi," the dispatcher grumbled, and the connection went dead, quickly replaced by the crackle of men exchanging jokes; one driver resumed reading some death poetry, and the radio stayed bizarrely quiet for it. Jounouchi tossed his magazine to the floor on the passenger side of the car. Turning the engine on and straightening in his seat, he glanced back into traffic; it was late in the morning, but the cars still came like rush hour. Jounouchi had to wait for the light behind him to turn red before he pulled out.

Luckily his fare was waiting outside of the Ramada: a young man with a bag hanging over his shoulders. He had darker skin, like he'd spent the first half of the summer getting a good tan, and black hair cropped short and messy. He was well dressed and looked a lot like business, but couldn't have been older than twenty. Pulling up to the curve in front of the doors of the Ramada, Jounouchi rolled down the passenger side window and asked, "Lookin' for a cab, kid?"

"Yeah!" With a wide smile the kid got into the front seat, careful not step on Jounouchi's magazine when he noticed it; he picked it up before placing his bag at his feet. "EGM?"

Jounouchi nodded. "Good to keep up with my English. Where to?"

"National Center of Sciences, please."

"What are you doing there?"

The kid chuckled. "One of the Hitotsubashi University schools is in the building. I've got to decide if I want to go there."

"Ah. On our way, then." As Jounouchi watched traffic he could hear the kid skimming the pages of his magazine. It didn't take long for the kid to pipe up.

"The Sylph, huh? What do you think of the re-release?"

"I don't."

"Oh? I like that they didn't give it some shitty name, like Sylph-Squared. The new design and logo is enough, especially when you consider they released this in record time, comparatively. And the graphics – wow. Video games really are budding." A few more page flips, and the kid persisted: "You really don't have an opinion?"

Jounouchi laughed. "I drive a cab in Tokyo; I don't have enough money to get into video games."

"I'm sorry." The drive went in silence for a while, but it didn't last. "Why'd you move to Tokyo, if the money isn't good?"

Jounouchi looked at the cars around him while they waited at a red light. "Change in scenery. I wasn't doing very well in the place I grew up." The light still red, Jounouchi looked at his passenger. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about the face, the build – the kid was familiar. "You got a name?"

"M... Morimoto. Morimoto Kenji." He held a hand out, and Jounouchi shook it with a smile.

"Good to meet you, Morimoto. You must come from a good family, going to Hitotsubashi – it's a business school, right?"

"Yeah. You can call me Kenji, you know."

Jounouchi laughed. "Alright, Kenji. Is your father proud?"

Kenji nodded. "It's not that I need it, and he knows that. I'm good in the family business, it's just that I want to throw the education card at people who doubt my ability." Kenji's smirk was more familiar than anything else. "And your name?"

"Jounouchi. Just how old are you?" The drive was going smoothly; they'd be at their destination in no time.

"Seventeen."

"Ambitious; I'm twenty-two, with no education beyond secondary, but I'm a damn good driver."

Kenji laughed, setting the magazine on the dashboard as the building loomed in front of them. "That you are. I'm going to be in and out of Tokyo for the rest of summer – I hope I catch you again."

"Likewise."

They said their goodbyes once they arrived at the building, and even as Kenji walked away Jounouchi tried to place why the kid was familiar and the name wasn't.

--

"So, how are you?"

Jounouchi fiddled with the keys to his apartment – a slightly run-down one-room deal on the third floor – and looked the girl up and down. "Just fine, thanks." She was a well-built woman, petite with long dark hair and perky breasts, with lots of creamy tan skin exposed as she leaned against his wall by his door.

"Up for a good time?"

Shaking his head, Jounouchi sighed and asked, "Are you really a hooker, or just homeless?"

After a second her shoulders dropped a bit, and she replied sharply, "A girl's gotta eat."

"Come on in; I'll make you some dinner." After a while in Tokyo, Jounouchi had come to realize that most of the young girls hooking in his area were merely homeless girls who couldn't find anything better. In a way, he had related – he always found himself talking with them as though he'd been in their shoes.

After all, he'd been a whore once.

He had quickly decided that if he came across a girl who needed some help, he'd give them a hand – and this one was no exception. Once she had eaten and was asleep on the couch – a runaway, it turned out, not even twenty – Jounouchi went to his own bed. He had attempted to make his apartment look classier than it was, using a folding partition decorated in traditional drags to make the boundary between the "bedroom" and the "living room." There was a short bit of counter separating the small kitchen from the rest of the room; the bathroom was the only separate room in the entire apartment. The walls were painted an sort of greyish-blue, faded with years and wear.

In the bedroom there was a twin sized bed with drawers underneath for his clothes, and a nightstand for his alarm clock and a lamp; beside the clock was a rumpled pack of cigarettes. In the nightstand's single drawer were all sorts of knick knacks, a couple broken watches, notes, letters – and below it all, a necklace and a picture. The picture was one of those tabloid deals of Kaiba, Mokuba, and himself, torn out of the paper, and the necklace was a simple ball chain with a red-gemmed lizard charm on it. He'd gotten it from Mokuba ages ago.

"I couldn't find a dragon," the kid, then almost fifteen, had admitted shyly, "but I figured it was the closest living relative. Think of it as a thank you for dealing with Niisama."

Guiltily Jounouchi had taken the gift, but never worn it – he never felt like he'd earned it. It should have been burnt two years ago, but he hadn't had the heart. Instead, it had stayed in his pocket the entire bus ride to Tokyo.

Those were the only two reminders of his time with Kaiba that Jounouchi brought with him to Tokyo – and he tended to avoid them whenever he could. Tonight, though... Tonight he sat on his bed with the dim light of his bedside lamp, and held the necklace up so it glimmered.

"Weird," he said at last, letting it slide over his palm and back into the drawer. He wasn't sure what had him so nostalgic, or why, but he didn't like it. He'd been surviving just fine without missing Domino.

--

What Jounouchi liked best about Tokyo was how fast everything was. The summer came and went pretty quickly; he had, once or twice, thought of the Morimoto kid and wondered if he'd started school, but once the season changed to fall he'd all but forgotten it. That was what Tokyo was; you made friends, you had a good ride, and then you moved on. No ties. No obligations.

In was mid-September when the dispatcher came up over the radio: "Jounouchi, I've got a request for you." Jounouchi waited until his current fare – luckily gathering her shopping bags from the backseat – left before answering.

"What kind of request?"

"Over at the international airport; Soren is closer, but they're demanding you specifically. They need to get to the Ramada, apparently."

"That's going to be nearly half an hour!" Jounouchi protested.

"I know, but they're willing to wait. American Airlines terminal."

Shrugging and counting his blessings – a habit that had helped him through a lot of times in Tokyo – Jounouchi replied, "Fine by me." He fought traffic like a pro and recognized the Morimoto kid on sight; he was waiting at the American Airlines terminal with two bags and a smile.

And behind him a man that Jounouchi had never expected to see again, tall and pale and aloof. Suddenly that recognizable smirk, the similarities in the build... "Mokuba," Jounouchi breathed, waiting for Kaiba to notice him as the two collected their suitcases and briefcases – the kid really was business now. "You little shit."

"Hey, Jounouchi," Mokuba said once they'd put their bags in the truck and got into the backseat. Mokuba's smile didn't falter. "This is my brother; he wants to look at my school and get out town during the re-release."

And looking at the kid now, how had he _not_ noticed it was Mokuba? Sure, his hair was shorter, and his features had sharpened some, but he was so definably Mokuba.

Kaiba stayed silent in the backseat, and Jounouchi reciprocated the act. The sudden memory of whiskey filled his mouth, and it made him want to gag. With surprisingly steady hands he popped a piece of gum in his mouth, trying to overpower the memory. God, he'd never wished more that he could smoke on duty.

"How's Tokyo been without me?" Mokuba asked cheekily; a glance in the rear view mirror revealed he was grinning from ear to ear and leaning back in the seat.

"Significantly less surprising," Jounouchi said as nonchalantly as he could. If he said so, he pulled it off quite well.

Mokuba just laughed. "Good."

Try as he might, Jounouchi couldn't think of anything to say, nothing so casual that he could write Kaiba's presence off. It didn't help that Kaiba was so stoic; it used to be that he thought it was fun to mess with Kaiba, but that was in the past. All that Jounouchi wanted to do was say something, anything to ensure that he wasn't just living out some nightmare.

He turned the radio on; even Mokuba couldn't talk through the drone of radio hosts in the morning. Kaiba got out his laptop and mumbled to Mokuba about their agenda.

When they arrived Mokuba was out the door in a heartbeat; Jounouchi popped the trunk while Kaiba put away his computer. Just as Kaiba was finishing Jounouchi realized that he was probably looking at his last chance to say anything – and it seemed wrong to say nothing.

"So..." He licked his lips, trying to ignore the dryness in his throat. "Any new contract affairs?"

Kaiba left the cab and slammed the door behind him; Jounouchi figured he was leaving without answering – a good response, considering the tactless opener – but he leaned into the open passenger window just before Jounouchi pulled away. "You haven't touched the business section of the paper in years, have you?"

It had always been something Kaiba insisted on, and not a habit Jounouchi retained. He shook his head, and Kaiba smirked, standing. His words came back into the car as he walked away.

"We're still one of the biggest business scandals in Japan."

**-end chapter eight-**

* * *

**notes**  
Thank you to purkledragon. 3 3 This chapter was a mess! (To be fair, it still is, but in a way I kinda need it to be, lol.) 

When I lived in Madison, my roommate was dating a cab driver -- there's some really interesting characters driving cabs! He told us this one story where one dispatcher read Japanese death poetry over the radio one day, and the image is so weirdly charming that I couldn't resist borrowing it.

Now, for Tokyo! I've always liked working with Domino, because I fudge around the details, but Tokyo -- ooooh, the playing field changes. I know there's a Ramada in Tokyo, because I stayed there overnight before our flight to Misawa (or to some area where we caught a shuttle -- I can't remember, it was years ago) but beyond that, I never got to see Tokyo. So, in advance I'm going to apologize if I make any really bad geography errors in this part. ..;; I've tried to research the big things, and make the rest as good as possible.

Mokuba & graduate school: I know you're supposed to be an undergrad before you hit graduate school, but in this case, with Mokuba's experience in KC and Kaiba's influence, I don't imagine getting him in graduate school, provided he knew what he had to, would be a problem. ; Hitotsubashi is a real university in Tokyo, and it sounds pretty nice from what I can tell on their website, so I went with that.

Anyway, I've got a hot date tonight (okay, okay, so I'm taking my boyfriend to Pirates and then a diner), so I'm off like a prom dress.


	10. Part II: Chapter Nine

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**Chapter Nine**

The first thing Jounouchi did on his lunch break was pull out his laptop and do a search for a name he'd never quite forgotten: Lynn Mae. Apparently, she'd moved on to bigger and better things – after writing an exposé on the "secret life of Seto Kaiba." Twice Jounouchi was described as "the paid lover," and once as a whore. Nori was cited as a source, but Jounouchi recognized her quote as a doctored version of the last thing she'd said to him.

It was slander, and she'd used the story to hit it big.

All of a sudden, Jounouchi was finding forums, fan sites, and people's opinions of "the love" he and Kaiba supposedly shared – and all it had taken was putting their names in a search engine. Flipping closed the cheap laptop, Jounouchi threw himself back on the bed. This was madness; he'd fled to Tokyo to get away from all that. He hadn't expected it to go on without him, to jump unexpected into his cab, going to school and talking about life.

And he had about half an hour to cope with it and get back to work.

--

He didn't think about it until nearly five o'clock that night; his last call of the night took him directly downtown, into the lanes of an expensive Indian restaurant. His fare had him waiting ten minutes, but eventually a tall suit with a big briefcase slid into the backseat. "Ramada..."

Their eyes met for the second time in eight hours, and Jounouchi said the only thing that jumped to mind: "What the fuck, Kaiba; don't you suits have limos and chauffeurs?"

Kaiba's shoulders visibly loosened. "I find it's more inconspicuous to take cabs when I can."

"And exactly when did you become inconspicuous?"

"This trip is to find a place for Mokuba to live, not business." Kaiba settled back and added, "The meeting was just conveniently timed."

"Ah, like hell; it's always been business with you; I wouldn't be surprised if Mokuba had been planned around the meeting."

Kaiba huffed quietly but importantly, commenting off-hand; "I wouldn't expect you to know better. I believe you're getting paid to take me back to my hotel, not criticize my work."

A few moments passed in awkward silence as Jounouchi made his way into traffic. Of course it was awkward. It'd always been awkward, even when they were together. As much as Jounouchi told himself to drop it, forget the Kaiba brothers and wait out their visit to Tokyo, he had to wonder what was going through Kaiba's mind. He'd never really been able to grasp that. "How'd the Sylph take off?" Stupid question; the media hadn't shut up about it, especially with –

"We're releasing it again with updated graphics and hardware. The old system has ceased production, and in a week the new one will be out with the same name."

It made Jounouchi nauseas; everything about the system reminded him of home. "So good, then?"

"Yes."

Night clubs and ramen shops passed by, and Jounouchi kept his eyes on traffic; it was particularly nasty, and he was likely to end up in another car's front seat if he didn't keep a quick foot on the breaks. A group of foreigners lurched out in front of him at a green light, and he was lucky he didn't end up with a bus attached to his bumper in the ensuing stop.

"How's your father?" Kaiba asked, shifting in his seat and looking out the window. After the group flashed Jounouchi a couple of rude gestures and sauntered out of the road; Jounouchi ignored them and continued driving. He had to focus on that first.

"Dead," he said, surprisingly not choked up about it; it always rubbed him raw to say it out loud. "He went last year."

"It..." Kaiba fell silent, and Jounouchi let it go without asking. He didn't want to know that they thought the same thing – and he was sure that they did.

It could have been him.

The rest of the ride passed in silence; it wasn't until they arrived at the Ramada that Kaiba spoke again. "Mokuba wants to see you."

"Huh?" Jounouchi pulled up in front of the hotel and shifted the car into park. "Why?"

"He likes you, I guess." Kaiba said it as though it was trivial. "I've heard nothing since yesterday but, 'Let's get together with Jounouchi again.' He thinks we'd have a lot lot talk about."

"I..." Lost for thought, Jounouchi swallowed and gripped the steering wheel with his right hand, other still resting on the gear shift.

Kaiba seemed to take that as an affirmative response. "How is tonight for you – around eight o'clock?"

Jounouchi floundered, looking at the people filtering in and out of the hotel. He didn't want to spent time with Kaiba again; it had been long enough that Jounouchi hardly ever thought of their time together. It was like ripping open an old wound, and he didn't -- "Sure."

"We're in room 617; I'll tell Mokuba to choose a restaurant." Kaiba dropped a couple bills on the passenger side as he exited, slamming the door a little too hard behind him.

The drive was boring after that; Jounouchi's only passenger was his thoughts, and compared to that, Kaiba was good company. Moving to Tokyo had been the best decision he'd ever made; two years clean attested to that. Sure, he thought about home – he missed it. What he didn't miss was how it'd made him feel. Like he was suffocating under the pressure of everyone's success. Now, with the Kaiba family butting their way back into his life – _Not that you put up much of a fight,_ he reminded himself – he had to think about it.

Where was Yuugi? Who missed him? Did anyone honor his father's grave? Having such tangible reminders of his past only showed him that he may have put Domino behind him, but that didn't mean it had stopped moving.

Jounouchi whiled away most of his evening thinking about it – if he was better now, maybe he could go back. Now that he was recovered, he could jump back into the life he remembered with his friends, before everything had gone downhill. At 7:00 PM he remembered he had a dinner appointment, and at 7:45 PM he found himself on the sixth floor of the Ramada, down the hall from room 617, and determined not to be early.

He sat in the stairwell, debating what to do with the necklace clenched in his fist. After a time he'd buckled down and slipped it over his head, confident that it was hidden beneath the collar and front of his shirt, which he'd buttoned just a little bit too high. He felt like he was going to a job interview, or a funeral. Suddenly the last two years on his life were going to be evaluated and put on the chopping block in front of one of the most judgmental men Jounouchi had the misfortune of being intimate with.

Intimate. _Fuck._ It all came crashing down at once, and Jounouchi stormed into the hallway for air, undoing his top button. After spending two years of his life pretending all the misfortune he'd brought on himself had never happened – the booze, the things he'd said, _Kaiba_ – it confronted him all at once, demanding the attention he'd never paid it, and he had to compose himself enough to handle dinner with the devil.

In fifteen minutes.

It was about the corner booth of Tragedy's End, it was about whiskey and pizza, it was fuck, his dad was gone, and he'd fled everything without even saying goodbye.

It was that once again Kaiba invaded his life and shaken things up when he'd been perfectly content to let all the bad things settle to the bottom.

Jounouchi found himself facing the golden script numbers: 617. Behind that door was Kaiba – was everything he'd tried to forget, everything about himself he'd tried to ignore. Because above all it was that without Kaiba around to remind him of what a piece of shit he'd been, he might not have gotten out of Domino in one piece – or even alive.

With unsteady feet and shaking hands Jounouchi knocked on the door; it took Mokuba less than a second to answer. He'd always been a punctual kid.

"I'm glad you're early, 'cause I'm starved! Niisama," Mokuba shouted back into the hotel room, "are you ready?"

Kaiba appeared a second later; Mokuba dashed back into the room for his jacket – just a track jacket, comforting in it's simplicity. It was something Jounouchi would've picked up when he was Mokuba's age, reminding him that if he stripped away all the business and the upbringing, Mokuba was normal. It was relieving, because it gave Jounouchi something he could relate to.

"I called a cab; it should be downstairs," Kaiba said, leading the way to the elevator. The whole way down Mokuba chattered – about how they were going to look for an apartment tomorrow, about a girl he had met, about how much he'd enjoy Tokyo when he lived there – all the way to the backseat of the cab and into Denny's.

"I had it in New York once," Mokuba told Jounouchi as they entered. "It's not the same, but it's still awesome."

Jounouchi was noticeably vacant during dinner; he nodded and responded to Mokuba's questions, he munched on the appetizers they got – he was methodical and decidedly happy (if he said so himself)...

And Kaiba was looking at him funny.

It finally fell silent, midway through their main meal; in the middle of cutting his dinner Mokuba heaved a sigh. "Look, I can't be responsible for conversation all night, guys. I've got to go to the bathroom."

Before Mokuba was even out of sight, Kaiba asked, "Do you still drink?"

"Nope; I smoke. Lesser of two evils," Jounouchi said stiffly, taking a bite of his burger. "I could use one now, actually. Think the kid would miss me for ten minutes?"

Kaiba pulled a waitress aside, saying, "If the young man asks where we went, tell him we'll be right back." Much to Jounouchi's combined surprise and anger – he certainly hadn't asked for the company – Kaiba followed him outside casually. They leaned against the wall together, and Jounouchi lit up as quickly as he could; he fumbled trying to get the cigarette box open. The Kaiba he remembered was stiff, wound tighter than a coil; in all the years Jounouchi had known him, he'd never been the type to lean against walls.

Out of politeness Jounouchi offered Kaiba a drag; the brunet took it like he'd been doing it for just as long. "You still pop aspirin like candy?" Jounouchi asked as he watched Kaiba inhale. Kaiba shook his head and handed the cigarette back, coughing lightly – either against the cold hair or the smoke, Jounouchi wasn't sure. "Good. The shit was bad for you."

"Uh-huh," Kaiba muttered noncommittally, crossing his arms across his chest and watching the cars around the parking lot. In one far corner there was some kids laughing and swearing, sitting on the trunk of a car. Jounouchi offered his cigarette again, and found himself watching Kaiba's fingers. His memories of Kaiba's hands were second only to his memories of Kaiba's words. The hands were familiar, but Kaiba didn't bite so hard anymore. "You remember that night in Tragedy's End," Jounouchi said slowly, licking his lips; he hadn't mentioned the bar in years, "with the cute girl and the old guy? Hell, I barely do; I remember the guy really needed someone to talk to, and I blew him off the second the girl came in."

"Boo hoo," Kaiba said flatly, and it put Jounouchi at ease; a snarky Kaiba, even lightly so, was something he could handle.

"Well, a couple days later I was at Yuugi's place, and Anzu reads me this article about a guy who drunkenly stumbled off the pier – drowned to death."

"And it was him?"

"The picture certainly looked like him. I felt like a piece of shit, but more than that it scared me. I didn't want to be some lonely guy in a bar, or my -- "

Kaiba pushed himself up stiffly, setting his shoulders back. "I don't need to hear about your life-changing revelations, Jounouchi. They don't matter."

Jounouchi glared at him, tossing what was left of his cigarette to the ground and smashing it under his toe. "You know, you could just appreciate a little closure."

"As far as I'm concerned, the issue was closed when you left Domino. If you had unfinished business, it should have been taken care of then."

"Who says I have unfinished business?" Jounouchi countered, louder than he meant to as he stood straight, poised to take Kaiba head to head. The punks in the corner of the parking lot quieted down and took notice.

"That," Kaiba replied, reaching a finger just under his collar and hooking a finger around the chain of his necklace. Jounouchi pushed him back, but he didn't bother hiding the necklace. "If you'd really cut your ties, you wouldn't have kept anything. But you've never been very good at follow-through, have you?"

"It was a gift," Jounouchi said. "Why wouldn't I keep it?" Kaiba shook his head and went back into the restaurant. Self-consciously, he tucked the necklace back under his shirt and buttoned the top button. "Unfinished business my ass," he grumbled under his breath. He ducked inside long enough, trying to keep out of sight of the table as he went to the hostess.

"Can I help you?" she asked, smiling. Jounouchi dug out his wallet and laid a bill down in front of her.

"If you could take this to table ten and let them known that I apologize for leaving early, I'd appreciate it."

**-end chapter nine-**

* * *

**notes**  
I've got a lot of apologies to make. A) I apologize to all the reviewers I haven't replied to yet -- it's been busy, but more on this later. B) Sorry this chapter took a little longer than anticipated!

Also, thank you for the beta job, purkle! purkle is my hero.

The name order flips for a brief moment in this chapter, because the author of the article is writing for an American paper -- hence, American order. :D Carry on with your everyday life. Early in the drafting of this chapter, I had determined they went to Denny's, and later went, "Huh. What if there's not a Denny's in Japan?" Alas, there is: http/ speed of part two is different than part one, because instead of being spread out over a large amount of time, these are set in about the same one-week period. oO;;

Anyway, the next update might take a while, I won't lie. I've got to move in six days -- woo hoo, five blocks away! -- and then comes a doctor's appointment, my birthday (woo hoo, twenty on the tenth!), and (hopefully) a short trip to see my relatives in Wisconsin. I hope to get it out before school starts, but if I don't, you at least know why. ;;


	11. Part II: Chapter Ten

**Chapter Ten**

"Way to bail last night."

In his surprise Jounouchi dropped the bag of potato chips he'd spent three minutes choosing; Mokuba was behind him holding a large ice cream sandwich and a plastic bag that was tied shut. "Sorry," he said, smiling sheepishly at the indignant teen behind him. "Here, I'll get your ice cream."

Mokuba laughed and handed it to him. "Don't have to ask me twice. Anyway, it wasn't a big deal; Niisama was in a pretty bad mood the rest of the night. Up for a walk?"

And just like that Jounouchi found himself walking with Mokuba from the Circle K and heading back to his apartment. "Isn't this a little bit of a walk from your hotel?" Jounouchi asked as Mokuba bit a sizable chunk of his ice cream.

"Well, yes, but the fresh air never killed anyone." Jounouchi gave him a pointed look, and Mokuba amended, "Okay, Tokyo's fresh air might have killed a couple people, but you know what I mean. And... I was looking for you. Your cab company did _not_ want to tell me where you lived, but I did manage to get an area out of them."

Jounouchi would have to remember to thank them for their little favors. "You came down here just to scold me for not sticking out dinner?"

"Of course not." Mokuba held up the plastic bag and explained, "It's not like we're the only people you left in Domino. Do you know how many phone calls we got in the first month you were missing? Honda damn near got a search warrant, he was so convinced that Niisama had you killed. When I told Otogi that I found you, it was just like that first month; I've got a lot of letters for you."

"Why didn't you just give them my phone number?"

Mokuba gave him a very level look and said, "I can tell when someone doesn't want to be found, Jounouchi. If I'd said, 'Wow, look at you – don't you recognize me?' in your cab last summer, you'd have bailed."

"I..." Jounouchi couldn't say that he wouldn't have. He liked Tokyo, yes, but he liked his peace more. "Did you come here looking for me?"

"No, but it doesn't mean you weren't missed. Why don't we go to your apartment to sort this mess out?"

It was hardly a three minute walk, and once inside they sat on the floor between the couch and the coffee table, the contents of the bag emptied out onto the floor. Jounouchi picked up a pink envelope gingerly as Mokuba looked around.

"This is a bit of a dump."

"It's home."

Mokuba nodded and looked at the pictures on the coffee table; there was one of Shizuka, and one of the gang at graduation. "I remember that," Mokuba said, indicating the graduation picture. "Everyone was happy."

"The whole world ahead of us," Jounouchi mumbled. He'd told Kaiba that once too. He opened the pink envelope; it was from Yuumi.

_I had no trouble finding a new job. I hope Tokyo is alright for you, Jounouchi._

There were others; he recognized Honda's messy writing immediately, and after picking through the pile he found Yuugi, Anzu, Otogi, and even one from Mai; it was an actual letter, marked as forwarded from his father's apartment to Kaiba's.

He didn't remember ever formally changing his address.

"I'll do this later," he said, meaning he'd do it when he was alone. Everyone there had reasons to be angry as hell at him, and if that was how it was going to go, then he didn't want to deal with it in front of Mokuba.

"I'm sorry," Mokuba said, and Jounouchi looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "You know, for dumping Niisama on you like that."

Jounouchi set the letters on his coffee table. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, lying, dragging him into your cab, dinner. But it's not like I didn't know."

That caught Jounouchi's attention; he didn't move, caught in an eye-lock with Mokuba – and he felt the most overwhelming sense of guilt and relief he ever had.

He still played dumb. "You knew what?"

"About you and Niisama, how it worked. You guys acted like I didn't have eyes and ears in the company structure."

"He didn't want you to know."

Mokuba nodded. "I know. It was exciting and all, before I realized it was phony. Hell, it was even more real than Niisama's girlfriend before you. I don't remember how old I was, but I remember them fighting in the office. They always fought in the office; she could never find Niisama anywhere else. She once demanded to know why he couldn't care about her the way he cared about me, and he cleared his throat and told her to get some sleep, and make sure to eat breakfast in the morning. He always mocked the hell out of her, but you... He humored you. You were the first fake he paid any real attention to. The first one he really needed, I guess."

It was a dull sort of shock in the stomach, hearing that – he'd never noticed Kaiba in any tabloids, never knew he had girlfriends. He sighed ruefully. He could handle not being the first fake relationship, but needed? "You're a bit off, Mokuba, but thanks for the compliment."

Mokuba turned away sharply, his silence punctuated as though Jounouchi was supposed to notice how tense it was. Slowly, very slowly, Mokuba spoke. "No one ever told you about why we needed the publicity, did they?"

"No."

With a chuckle Mokuba looked at him. "Kaiba Corporation was going to tank. We weren't just losing money, but we were losing money fast. After DOMA, after the Grand Prix, the business world thought that Niisama was a buffoon, and other companies started cashing in on the gaming industry. There must be a hundred clones of Duel Monsters by now – but what did it matter?

"The video game frontier was a good one, people were definitely interested, and the research was good, but the money didn't come as fast as it went. The general public only cared when Niisama was doing something outrageous; they didn't care what good things we were doing for kids. It was all about who was making the headlines, and headlines aren't made on good deeds." Mokuba crossed his arms over his chest the way Jounouchi had noticed Kaiba doing when he got frustrated. "Seiji naturally made the jump that we had to get a woman, start something that people couldn't pull their eyes away from. Tabloids love following a romance, and you made it juicier than Seiji had imagined. Let's face it; you helped carry Kaiba Corporation to the Sylph. We aren't back where we were yet, but we're close. Niisama couldn't have done that without you."

"You'll have to forgive me if I'm not exactly consoled," Jounouchi snapped. What good did Mokuba think that was going to do him? He balled his hands into fists, looking at the floor. It should have been flattering to know that he had helped, but it was accompanied with the knowledge that Kaiba owed him.

Since they were fifteen and he'd strutted into their classroom like he owned the place, Kaiba had been Jounouchi's ideal image of a rival. Christ, he'd knocked Yuugi over the head with a briefcase – for a card! He was snotty, rich, and had an entitlement complex bigger than Japan.

It had reminded Jounouchi that he had tossed Yuugi's treasure because he thought the kid was a sissy. For as much as Kaiba was Jounouchi's opposite, they sometimes ran parallel – it was what made hating him so interesting. Having that man owe him felt too much like losing his strong image of Kaiba, and it made his stomach churn. Even when they'd been together, he'd held to that image of a strong rival.

"It was..." Mokuba floundered, cracked his knuckles. Jounouchi leaned over and got his half-empty pack of cigarettes off the coffee table, flicking his light twice before lighting up.

"Niisama has problems with life."

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

"Beyond that," Mokuba insisted. Jounouchi leaned back a little bit, just to get a good look at the kid. For all he'd changed, he was still just the kid brother of Kaiba – chatty, eager to make people see a side of his brother that wasn't accessible to the public. "It's all business to him now, because seeing life as a game got too complicated. Business is easy: come out on top, no matter what. When you fail, bam! You're dead. But consider a lengthy RPG – a princess, a bad guy, a kingdom to save. His bad guy is dead, his..." Mokuba made a face, "...princess is safe, and he's finally restored the kingdom. Now the princess is moving on, there's no more conflict – what's left to do?"

"At the end of the game, it's always happily ever after. If Kaiba's been the good guy, he wins," Jounouchi added, taking a drag. "We know better than that."

"Exactly. Niisama's never been a hero, and happily ever after isn't good enough; there's no clear cut objective to it. It leaves him with no conflict." Mokuba stood, stretching to the ceiling and giving Jounouchi a sense of just how tall he'd gotten, and just how old he was. Older than Kaiba had been when he became CEO, when he'd met Yuugi. "I liked you because you gave Niisama the daily competition he needed, and you didn't always let him win. A side-quest, if you will. It was fun because he didn't realize there was no way for him to win, not completely. I know it wasn't always good for you, Jounouchi, but I'm willing to bet it wasn't always bad."

**-end chapter ten-**

* * *

**Notes**  
Thank you to purkle for the beta. :D I know there's a joke about the Circle K, but I don't know what it is -- I feel very out of the loop. D Either way, not much left to say. I've always written Mokuba very chatty. Then again, he's usually the one divulging all the personal information. 

Minor inconsistency: I've always been sort of unsure about DOOM versus DOMA -- I've heard both, and was never sure if there was actually a difference. Earlier in the story I used DOOM, and it was brought to my attention by my beta that DOMA was the subbed version. Thus, to be consistent with naming, I made the switch here.

Updates for the rest of the story are going to be a lot more sporadic, and probably further apart. If you don't really care why, then consider this the end of the notes. D If you're curious, continue forth.

One of my classes demands that I read a novel every other week; three years ago this would have been child's play, but I don't read nearly as much as I used to anymore, and thus I'm struggling a little. I just plowed through Pride & Prejudice done last week, and next week is going to the Handmaid's Tale. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that's going to slow me down.


	12. Part II: Chapter Eleven

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**Part II, Chapter Eleven**

It struck him later that Mokuba had told him, flat out, that Kaiba could never conquer him. Jounouchi mulled over it, turned it over in his mind like a curious trinket. When he thought back on his time with Kaiba, it always left him with a complete sense of being beaten; he'd never taken the time to consider exactly how much of that feeling was due to things Kaiba did. His biggest frustration at the time was that he'd wake up in the morning, naked and hung-over, and realize that he wasn't a worthy adversary, hardly worth Kaiba's attention.

There was nothing quite as exhilarating as when they were both at their best; Battle City had been the best reminder of that Jounouchi had. He'd lost to Kaiba, but he'd given it every ounce of spirit he had. After that, he couldn't say that he'd given Kaiba 100 -- by the time he started his relationship with Kaiba, he hadn't been giving anything 100.

Thinking about it made his fingers itch for a deck, and he'd hesitantly gotten his own out. It was something he'd avoided doing for a long time, since he'd starting drinking so long ago. He didn't want to get back to it without his old spirit, and eventually he'd come to realize that maybe someday he'd get close, but he could never be sixteen again.

Still, he looked at the deck, surveyed the cards; some were worn from constant use -- his Red-Eyes looked like it'd been abused by a six-year-old -- and others were practically mint. He'd never face Kaiba with this deck again. They'd never spar with dragons and traps, or hurl cheesy insults over chain effects. But he wanted to face him. Wanted Kaiba to say something.

He wanted to level the playing field, balance all debts.

It took fifteen minutes to get to Kaiba's hotel, another ten to remember the room number. (He was pretty sure that going to the front counter and saying, "I'm looking for Kaiba Seto," was going to get him kicked out or arrested.) Eventually he made it to room 617 -- and hesitated. He almost knocked but lost his nerve, storming back down the hall.

"No," he said. Leaving it unspoken would do nothing; even flipping through his old deck hadn't soothed the itching in his fingertips. He had to do this. He couldn't forget the things Mokuba had told him.

He stomped back, trying to imagine Kaiba behind the door, mocking him for being a wimp -- and Jounouchi didn't just knock, he hit the door like it owed him money. When it opened he blurted, "I hate you!"

Smirking, Kaiba replied smoothly, "I haven't forgotten. Is that all you needed?"

"I... no." Shifty awkwardly, it suddenly seemed silly; Kaiba didn't look at all bothered, and he'd had years to know about all that Jounouchi just learned. He attempted to gather his thoughts as quickly as possible, eager to sound dominating, to look stronger than he imagined he was in Kaiba's memory.

He wasn't a blithering alcoholic anymore. He was better than that, and he wanted Kaiba to know it. "I admired you, in some sick way," he stated, unsure exactly where he was going. With that, the dam broke, and every fleeting thing he'd told himself he was glad for never admitting to Kaiba, came out. "You were my age and you were loaded. You were confident, and I hated it. Then we got stuck in that fucking virtual world, and I wanted to laugh because you were getting beat by a kid. I mean, hell, even I know how to beat up a kid."

Kaiba frowned and opened his mouth, but Jounouchi held a hand up, making a noise to shut him up. He was on a roll.

"And then there was all that stuff about your dad, and how you overcame it all. It didn't seem like this big deal at the time, just another sob story, but when we were older I realized it was just another thing I hated you for, because you had topped your demon, and succeeded where I failed. You were my ideal rival because you were so much more successful than I was, and if I could beat you, then I could beat anything."

And that was it. Jounouchi was so completely out of anything to say that his mind went completely blank. Luckily, Kaiba stepped up to the plate.

"You really haven't gotten any brighter, have you? At least now the whole floor knows that you realize who your betters are. If you're going to keep talking, I suggest doing it in private." Embarrassed and once again scrambling for his thoughts on why he'd shown up, Jounouchi took the invitation and went inside. Once the door was closed, Kaiba added, "I've got to admit, you're pretty good at reading too deeply into something without looking beneath the surface. What are you doing here, Jounouchi?"

"It's..." He didn't want to say they were unfinished. He refused to admit he'd let Kaiba cross his mind in more than passing. "You owe me, Kaiba. I know that's gotta drive you crazy. You hate debt."

Kaiba frowned, glaring at Jounouchi; he clenched his fists, his knuckles white. "And? Do you want reparations? I believe you were adequately paid for your troubles. Is that all you came here to say?"

"I don't know what I came here to say!" Jounouchi snapped, looking around the doorway. It was too small, and he felt trapped. "But you're here, I'm here, and it seems like someone ought to say something."

Kaiba fell silent and left the doorway without instructing Jounouchi -- leaving him to his own devices. After a few moments he followed Kaiba to a sitting area by the window; Kaiba was lounging in an armchair, lighting up. On the coffee table in front of him sat the cigarette pack; he watched Kaiba toss the lighter onto the table, skittering across the wood. "Have a seat," Kaiba invited, motioning to the chair adjacent to his own. Jounouchi nodded, grabbing the cigarettes as he sat down and following suit; smoking he could cope with. They were just two guys, conversing over a good smoke.

"Congratulations," Kaiba said, exhaling a plume of smoke. "You beat me. What -- "

"I didn't beat you," Jounouchi interrupted. "I was a pawn at best; I didn't know the half of it. I don't like this idea that you owe me."

It almost seemed like Kaiba was going to laugh. "You would have loved it when we were seventeen."

"Well, we're not seventeen anymore."

Silence passed; it seemed necessary to fill it, but luckily Kaiba did so before Jounouchi had to come up with something. "So you started smoking to replace the drinking?"

"Life isn't complete without a little substance abuse," Jounouchi added, in hope of a joke. Neither laughed, but he didn't mind; it wasn't that funny anyway. "And the headaches?"

"Went away when Seiji died," Kaiba said; surprisingly, he didn't smirk like Jounouchi would have expected. "Heart attack. Hated you right until he died, you know; thought it was a stain on the company."

Of course; Jounouchi hadn't forgotten the way Seiji glared at him. All he could follow with was, "When my dad died, I wondered what he thought of me. We were buddies for a while, because once I realize we'd get along if I traveled the road to hell with him, I hopped right on. I mean... Well, it doesn't matter now."

"You ever hear from your mom?"

"No."

"I did." His gaze didn't waver, not even when Jounouchi's jaw dropped, and his fingers dug into my jeans. His mother hadn't even tried to visit him… "Shortly after you left."

"Yeah?" Jounouchi asked, swallowing as he waited for Kaiba to continue.

"Yeah; she wanted to talk. Well, more precisely, she wanted information, and didn't leave until I answered her. You're definitely her son, Jounouchi; she stood on my doorstep for half an hour after my butler told her to leave, refusing to budge until I came down to talk to her. So I did. She wanted to know how you had been, what you were doing with your life."

Jounouchi's mouth went dry. He could only imagine the things Kaiba could have told her. It would figure -- the one person who had accused him of being just like his father, even when he was just a kid, went to the only person in the world who knew she had been right. "What… What did you say?"

He shrugged. "I told her you were doing fine, and that you had a job out of the city you were pursuing." He cracked his knuckles into fists and sighed, turning his attention to the wall. Jounouchi blinked, waiting for more, but there was nothing else.

"That's it?"

He nodded. "That's it. She left, and I never had to hear from her again. I'm guessing you haven't either."

Dumbly, Jounouchi shook his head. "I…" He didn't want to say thank you, but… He did. He wanted to thank Kaiba for that one lie. Above all, it stunned him; the woman who hadn't wanted him had been the one to accept the image of him presented in the media without question -- to worry about him. "Thanks," he muttered, taking a drag off his cigarette and looking at the ceiling. "I appreciate you lying."

"For all I knew it was the truth. According to you, I was a prison." Kaiba laughed, exhaling smoke -- Jounouchi watched, rapt and worried. He'd never seen Kaiba look quite so old. "It was quite a month -- no one ever tried to drown me before."

Of all the things Jounouchi tried to bury, that was the biggest. That night had been the closest to loving Kaiba he'd ever come, and he'd been foolish enough to say it. Such embarrassments were better left unremembered. Kaiba exhaled smoke, his eyes closed. Jounouchi licked his lips, telling himself he was only leaning closer in curiosity -- and Kaiba delivered, talking after another drag.

"You were never an adversary, Jounouchi, not even when you ran around Domino proclaiming we were enemies -- beating you would have been like beating a child, especially after..." Kaiba sounded almost amused, making a noise somewhere between a laugh and a chuckle. "It was a pleasure watching you best yourself, though -- I knew from the beginning that you were better than the shell you'd become."

It was a compliment, and not even a veiled one. Jounouchi didn't know how to take that; he couldn't even go with his old standby of taking it as badly as possible. He didn't have it in him. Leaning a little closer, he waited for his strength to come back. Any minute he was going to call Kaiba a bastard, let him know exactly what a dick he was -- just like old times.

Just like back then -- when Jounouchi had done just this, interested and irritated and oh-so-lost whenever he kissed Kaiba.

Kaiba didn't pull away when their lips met, but calling him a participant would have been pushing it; Kaiba remained in stasis and Jounouchi didn't push further. They must have looked like children, their lips pressed together awkwardly as they both wondered just what the hell to do next. Jounouchi didn't know if he wanted to stay or run like hell.

Sinking back into his chair was the easiest. Kaiba laughed again, smashing the end of his cigarette into the ashtray on the coffee table. "You were right to leave -- smart enough to realize that there's no room for love between us."

The words caught in Jounouchi's throat; he hated the way Kaiba said love, like it was as simple as living happily ever after. Of all people, Kaiba should have known better. "It isn't like that."

"How is it, then?" Once again Jounouchi was left silent. That was the impasse, the one thing he couldn't own up to. The feeling he couldn't describe. Luckily Kaiba filled the empty space with another question: "Do you remember that one time at the bar?"

"Which time?" Jounouchi asked ruefully.

"You screamed at me in front of the whole place, 'You're fucked up, and you fuck me up with you.' Not a month later you tried to drown me, telling me it was like love. It wasn't until later I wished I'd said, 'And you think I'm the fucked up one.'"

Jounouchi looked away, eyes fixed steadily on the dusty-beige carpet. "I had bigger demons then. You were just the easiest to blame." He stood to leave. It had been a mistake -- of course it had been a mistake. Everything about Kaiba was a mistake. He should have never come to visit, said his piece. He shouldn't have kissed him.

Kaiba pulled him back with a word: "Idiot." Old anger flared in Jounouchi's belly -- it was as welcome as it was infuriating. There he was, trying to set things right -- mistake or not, he was still trying! "You were always an idiot."

It was just like Kaiba to have no respect for what he was doing. "When I said you were like drowning, I meant it. A guy would have to be dying to resort to the likes of you."

"Likewise."

Jounouchi launched the first punch; connecting with the side of Kaiba's face was like hugging an old friend. It was the shame that getting kneed in a stomach wasn't as nostalgically pleasing.

And even though Jounouchi knew it was a mistake, somewhere between Kaiba tripping back over the coffee table and the curtains getting ripped down in the scuffle, they'd found themselves in bed.

**-end**

* * *

**notes**  
I apologize for the complete lag in updating with this chapter; school is murdering me very, very slowly, and I've just jumped into NaNoWriMo for the year. (To allow a bit of free advertising, I'll be chronicling this over at my blog, where the results will eventually be uploaded; if you're in for a bit of psychological horror and vampires, check it out (sans spaces): blog. erratic-flux .net / rockin So I'm not going to lie; there probably won't be another update until the end of the month. 

As for this chapter -- pass judgment! I don't know what to think anymore. There are things I definitely like, as I really love the last few chapters, but I'm so worried that this chapter is going to seem ill-fitted, and will ruin the mood (just in case chapter eight didn't ruin it for enough people). So let me know what you really think, ladies and gents. And since I won't be able to update before the holiday, Happy Very Early Thanksgiving!

such as the phrase, "beat it like it owes you money," which got paraphrased into part of the chapter.


	13. Part II: Chapter Twelve

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**Chapter Twelve**

Jounouchi woke up twice the next morning. At seven, he wished for the first time in ages that he had alcohol to blame. He'd left Kaiba's hotel room quietly -- why the hell had crashing on the floor seemed like such a good at one AM? -- and drove like a bat out of hell to get home. He called in sick to work and went back to sleep.

He woke up the second time in a sudden rush; he cocooned in his blankets and pulled his pillow over his head as though it would keep the reality out. All he could do was groan. How could he had forgotten how _every_ fight had ended? Damn it, he'd vowed to be done with Kaiba two years ago -- burnt the memories, removed himself from the situation.

"So why," he asked aloud, muffled by his pillow, "did you go and end up on your back again? He's bastard, but he's right: you're an idiot."

Eventually he made it out of the bed to make lunch -- when it came between his stomach and his shame, his stomach almost always won. After having something to eat, he decided to go for a walk to clear his head, or at least get it in reasonable order. As he found himself facing daylight with people milling around him on the sidewalk, he felt a sudden pang of clarity.

Love. He'd always assumed that relationships were about love -- even when it came to destroying his life for his father. Well, fuck love. With Kaiba it was always about one-upping him. It was about how it felt to be in constant struggle, to make Kaiba acknowledge he was the better man. They had both defined themselves by competition most of their lives, and when everyone else had moved on, Kaiba and Jounouchi had been left with each other for validation.

Kaiba had to feel it too; if Kaiba didn't feel that, he wouldn't have bothered with sex. He wouldn't have even let Jounouchi into the room. The challenge was that they were trying to prove that they'd never be the same; Jounouchi fought to prove that he could be the best, and Kaiba pushed back to prove that he'd never fall to Jounouchi's level.

The whole thing nearly toppled Jounouchi, and he made a break for his car. He knew exactly what he had to say to Kaiba, and just how to elaborate on, "It isn't like that." He fumbled around his pockets, swearing when he realized that he'd left his keys upstairs. He took the stairs two at a time and nearly fell on his face going through the door. Just as he snatched the keys off the table, he heard, "Jounouchi! I've been looking all over for you."

Jounouchi stopped mid-stride, and didn't turn around right away. How was it that he'd forgotten about Mokuba?

"My damn cab driver was new or something, because he couldn't find my apartment. I gave him yours, and it took him fucking twice as long as it should have to get here."

"You called another cab?" Jounouchi didn't mean to say it, but he couldn't help it -- it was easier than, "I slept with your brother again," and he had been awfully proud to have been someone's favorite. Then the word 'apartment' sunk in, and Jounouchi added, "When did you get an apartment?"

"We signed the lease months ago, but I just got settled yesterday. It's pretty cool, and there's a couple of girls down the hall that are really nice. And if you were answering your phone I would've called you." Mokuba produced the scratched red cell from his jacket pocket, holding it out to Jounouchi with an expression of pure frustration. It took Jounouchi a moment to remember that it'd been in his jeans pocket the night before. And if Mokuba had it, that meant... "You ended up in bed, didn't you?"

"No! Well, maybe a little."

"You don't end up just a little in bed, Jounouchi! I didn't confide in you so you could go throw it back in Niisama's face, and don't tell me you didn't -- I know you. I just wanted..." Mokuba clenched his eyes shut as though he was trying to refrain from hitting something -- or someone. "I didn't want to think you were holed up here blaming Niisama for everything, when it wasn't all his fault. You weren't supposed to go and do this."

"It's not like I tried to kill him."

"The state of his hotel room suggested otherwise; I saw the damages bill this morning when he checked out. I like you, Jounouchi, I really do, but this isn't what I want for Niisama." Mokuba stepped forward, handed Jounouchi the phone. "Can you take me home now? I just wanted to drop that off."

Numbly, Jounouchi nodded. There went that plan. "Yeah."

The ride was quiet -- Mokuba wasn't talkative for the first time that Jounouchi could remember; for that matter, he didn't feel all that loquacious himself. The teen left the cab with a muttered, "See ya," and Jounouchi went straight back to his apartment.

Right back to where he started: confused and unsure and wrestling for a definition for his current state of affairs. Unopened letters from his friends greeted him, bold and white against his coffee table. Jounouchi plopped onto the couch and collected them, dropping them again on his lap and opening Anzu's first.

One after another he sucked in the notes, the messy handwriting and grease-stained paper -- "Thank you, Honda," he laughed while he read about how much his friend was enjoying his pizza. Yuugi's was the last he read... and he hesitated before opening it. The things Yuugi might say were the most daunting. During his last year in Domino Jounouchi had become increasingly distant; he hadn't even bothered saying goodbye. With a lungful of air he tore the seal of the envelope and unfolded the paper.

It was surprisingly docile. Yuugi talked about his days in Domino -- a cute girl he was seeing (though he still wished that Anzu might come around), his job at the Game Shop, Grandpa's retirement party...

"Mom and Grandpa would love to see you there," Yuugi wrote. "Dad's even coming in early from his business trip for it. It's going to be the sixth of next month -- a Monday. Grandpa couldn't bear doing it while the shop was closed. He wants customers to come and see him go."

The phone rang, and Jounouchi set the letter aside to answer it. "Yeah?"

"Come to work," the dispatcher growled. "I don't care if you're puking blood, we're getting slammed out there."

Jounouchi sighed. The distraction would be welcome -- the sudden chaos his world had become was too much to swallow in one sitting. "Fine. Give me ten minutes."

"You've got five."

Jounouchi was out of the house in three.

--

It was near seven at night; after seven solid hours of drunk foreigners and angry natives, Jounouchi was ready to call it a night. He was tired. He was cranky. Tokyo wasn't the fun and unfamiliar place he thought it was two years ago.

Out of the corner of his vision he saw a girl waving her money at him from the curb. "One more," Jounouchi said with gritted teeth. "One more." He pulled up to her on the curb; the first thing in the cab was a medium-sized suitcase, then a backpack, and then his fare. She was young and petite, eyeliner smeared on her cheeks. "Where to?" Jounouchi asked as the door shut and the dome light dimmed.

"Anywhere," she said stiffly, sniffling. "I don't care where. I hate this city."

"Ah." First Jounouchi drove forward, reading the road signs casually. After a moment he realized he was instinctively heading south, heading out of town. "Hey," he said slowly, "if you want to go to Domino City, I'll pay half the fare." If he broke his bank account doing so... Well, it wasn't the kind of decision to be made rationally.

"Domino..." She rolled the word across her tongue, then asked, "I've heard of it; what's it like?"

"It's great," Jounouchi reminisced. "You never get bored, because it's big enough without being too big. It's on a port, it's warm, it's diverse. I once met a hot Egyptian chick there. Japan's home of games people would call it."

"Oh! Battle City!" She nodded, and it made Jounouchi smile to hear someone say it. It was one thing when it was a casual story between friends, but hearing it from a stranger made it more real. "God, that was forever ago. I remember that... Ah, the guy who set it up, I remember he was hot. Whatever happened to him? And the winner -- he was some kid, right?"

"How old are you?" Jounouchi asked, indignance crawling up his spine. He didn't play the duels card, though; he knew it was pretty useless after she'd made it pretty clear that Tokyo had forgotten the big deals of his past.

She didn't even remember Kaiba's name.

"Never mind," he said after she didn't answer. "It doesn't matter. Domino, then?"

"Yeah," she said slowly. "I could go for that kinda of change in atmosphere."

Jounouchi made sure he was almost out of Tokyo before he reported the fare -- then he turned his radio off to avoid the fallout. It was going to be a long drive, so he might as well be friendly. "What's got you so eager to leave Tokyo?" he asked, looking at her through his rear view mirror. The girl had settled to watching the scenery pass by.

"I came here for my boyfriend... well, sort of. See, I'm from up north. My parents own a toy store in this little town -- Misawa, you heard of it?" Jounouchi shook his head, and she snorted. "No one has; it's full of American kids who get their kicks stealing stuff. Anyone, one day I meet the guy, a little older than me but absolutely dashing, and we hook up -- and he splits the next week. My dad pitches a fit when he finds out and throws me out. I worked at restaurant and lived with friends until I had the money to get a train ticket here to find him. You know what I find out?" She sniffled again, a little louder; Jounouchi dug an unopened pack of pocket tissue from his glove box and threw it back to her. After blowing her nose she continued, "He has a _baby_. A baby, and he was up north sleeping with a seventeen-year-old girl."

Jounouchi made a good point of not steering off the road. If she was underage... "You're seventeen?"

"Not anymore; I was eighteen by the time I moved here, and it'll be my birthday soon. The shit I had to go through to stay alive in this place, the shitty dives I worked at just to get by..." She shifted and blew her nose again. "And you?"

"I, uh, actually ran away to Tokyo two years ago. I ran away from my dad, from my... Well, from a guy." Jounouchi waited for a reaction, and got none. Ah, well, friendly it was then. "Met him again, and... It's a sticky situation."

"I was a hooker," she burst, like she'd just been waiting for the right time and given up. "A classy one, in a nice hotel, but a whore. So you're gay -- try coping with being cheap."

Jounouchi sighed. "I already have."

**-end-**

* * *

**notes**  
I'm really at a complete loss as for what to say at this point -- the this chapter and the next chapter are such a connected unit for me that I can't really view the action seperately. I, by no means, regret that they're two seperate chapters, but still. We're at a point in the story that either it's going to work, or it won't -- unlike the beginning, I can't still change things to make sense, lol. At least I'm no longer nervous!

Misawa shout out! I know that (at least at some point a year or two ago) there was someone on the list who was born there, so I thought I'd say hi. D I couldn't come up with a northern town when creating this bit character, and figured I may as well go with what I know.

Many thanks to purkle, who has been a real goddess in this whole beta process; she's a doll! D And now, off to my hot pocket I go! On a side note for readers who don't use reader alerts, I set up a news list on my website so that you can get updates on the site and on stories directly to your e-mail. If you're at all interested in that, check it out at http://hiatus. 


	14. Part II: Chapter Thirteen

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

By the time Jounouchi pulled up in front of the game shop the sun was just beginning to rise and he was getting his third wind, ready to face what he'd left behind. He had dropped his fare off at a hotel, draining what he knew would be the last of his money to put her up for the night. Climbing out of his cab, Jounouchi looked up at the familiar building and wondered, just for a moment, if facing Kaiba wouldn't be easier. After a moment he shook it off and went the door, pressing the lit-up button on the door frame.

His stomach churned in time with the doorbell, but he stood steady as the door opened. Yuugi had grown a whole two inches, but his eyes still lit up in the happiest way, and he hugged Jounouchi without so much as asking where he'd been. "It's about time," Yuugi finally said, sounding very much like he wanted to laugh. "I knew you wouldn't stay away forever."

That was Yuugi, of course. Optimistic, cheerful to the absolute bitter end, and for a few minutes after that. "I... I had to work things out," Jounouchi said as they pulled back to look at each other. "And I did."

"And now?" Yuugi opened the door further, but Jounouchi didn't step over the threshold.

"Now I have some other places to go, but I wanted to come here first and apologize. I'm sorry for leaving without warning, and I'm -- "

Yuugi shook his head and said, "Jounouchi, you should know better. Do you want some coffee, or do you have other things to do?" Jounouchi faltered, and stumbled on his thoughts for a moment. Of course it would be that easy with Yuugi -- he had come back, and that was that.

"Yeah, I've got another place to go," Jounouchi admit. "Can I come back for coffee in an hour, though? I have a feeling I'll need it." Yuugi nodded and they parted ways with smiles.

It was the real sign that Domino had barely changed at all. Neither had the roads, and much to his credit Jounouchi remembered the way to Kaiba Mansion without stopping to consult a map. Getting in, though... that he remembered to be tricky. It used to be that there was a list at the front gate; the guards wouldn't let anyone in who wasn't on the list.

Jounouchi somehow doubted he was still on it.

So he went around the back; there was still a solid line of trees hiding the hideous privacy wall that surrounded Kaiba Mansion. If Jounouchi was lucky, he would keep just one step ahead of security on his way in. It sent a thrill up his spine as he hauled himself up one branch, then another; he hadn't broken into anywhere in ages, and never something this big -- Kaiba probably gave his security permission to use excessive force.

Jounouchi jumped the wall without any alarms sounding, though it seemed impossible that there hadn't been some alert within security. Keeping his guard up, Jounouchi sprinted for the mansion; it seemed like an eternity with his calves burning, his chest constricting -- the only thing keeping him from falling on his face was the constant fear of dogs, sirens, anything to indicate that someone had been manning that wall.

Nothing. He came to a stop a few feet from a patio door, panting and sweating and trying to work out the next part of his plan. To some extent he had expected to be taken before Kaiba at the hands of guards, so now it was down to breaking and entering. Through the thin red veils that covered the doors Jounouchi could see a housekeeper tidying up. "Shit," he breathed, crossing the space and knocking on the window. The woman jumped and peered through the curtains... and screamed, running out of the room.

At yet another loss, Jounouchi tried the handle.

The door opened into a room he didn't recognized. It was adorned with red curtains, white furniture, and heavily polished dark wood. The d?or reeked of elegance and money -- it was probably something that came with the mansion before Kaiba's time.

"You!" In the open doorway stood Kaiba's goons; they still wore black suits and sunglasses, like American Secret Service agents right out of the movies. "Come with me."

Floundering, Jounouchi picked up the first thing he could grab -- a lamp. Ignoring that it was still plugged into the wall, and that it probably cost more than Jounouchi's life insurance policy, Jounouchi wielded it like a club. It was certainly heavy enough around the base. "No. I want to see Kaiba. I demand to see Kaiba."

The guard eyed him the way a parent might look at a petulant child as he pulled his jacket back just enough to reveal a gun at his hip. "You sure you want to make demands? You're trespassing."

Jounouchi's grip tightened around the lamp, and he tried not to look nervous -- if he was right, then Kaiba would definitely see him. How could he be wrong? "I know, but call him -- if he refuses, I'll let you do whatever you have to." Two more guards had joined the first, looking like they were ready to deliver the excessive force that Jounouchi had imagined earlier. The first turned and said, "Tell Seto-sama that the intruder -- "

"Jounouchi Katsuya," Jounouchi broke in. The guard glared at him, then turned back.

"-- Jounouchi Katsuya demands to see him." One of the subordinates nodded, stepping off as he touched an ear piece. It left Jounouchi facing two guards, one definitely armed; he found himself doubting that this had been the best plan. After all, this was Kaiba he was placing his hopes on; it wasn't beyond grasp that he'd kick Jounouchi out without a second thought. The guard ran his finger along the edge of his gun, fixing Jounouchi with an irritated glare.

It didn't take long for the subordinate to return, murmuring his response so that only the other guards heard.

"Follow us." When Jounouchi didn't respond, the guard added, "We're to lead you off the grounds and let you know that next time you come near the estate police will be involved."

Yup -- that was standard Kaiba. Sighing, Jounouchi replaced the lamp on the end table and walked to the door. The first guard led the way, the other two flanked just behind Jounouchi as they led him through the mansion. Slowly locations started looking familiar -- they passed the dining room, one of the many bathrooms Jounouchi remembered spending mornings, the main living room where he'd played games with Mokuba... Too quickly they were in the massive foyer; Jounouchi whistled as he looked around. He remembered a lot of fights on those stairs.

At the top, just at the curve of the second floor stairway stood Kaiba, looking down on the scene. Jounouchi muscled tensed, and all that once he remembered that above all, Kaiba was his enemy. He hadn't shown up to play by rich boy's rules, he'd come to show Kaiba that he was going to win.

"Having fun looking down, asshole?" Jounouchi shouldered up. Kaiba didn't move, so Jounouchi went towards him -- the two rear flanks gripped his upper arms to hold him back. "You're old news to the next generation, Kaiba! They may know your company, but the days of dueling are done -- no one remembers you but me!"

"Enough," the lead guard snapped, grabbing Jounouchi -- for a split second, before he was whirled around into engagement against the lead guard, Jounouchi could have sworn that Kaiba looked relieved. It didn't last long before he was looking at the wrong end of a fist. "Persist and -- "

"Let's hear this," Kaiba said, his voice echoing off the walls. "You're here to tell me all the things you didn't in Tokyo, right?"

"I don't love you -- I don't even know what that's supposed to mean, but I know it's not what I feel about you," Jounouchi said -- he didn't think it really needed introduction. "If I had thought about it better two years ago, I would've said I appreciate the way I hate you. People who always spout that bullshit about there being a thin line between love and hate -- maybe they're right, I don't fucking know. I do know that I don't want to let you get out of my sight. We're rivals, Kaiba."

"You're not at my level."

"Maybe not, but I will be someday. You always sought me out because you need to beat me. Admit it, there's something in me that reminds you of you, and you want to stamp it out before I'm better than you. I will be, someday." Jounouchi grinned up at Kaiba and shrugged off the guards -- he set his shoulders, standing straight to show Kaiba he could. The men let go in a daze, staring up at their boss. "While the world forgot your name I was still trying to beat the impassible Kaiba Seto. I'm never going to love you, but I'll never make you bored, and I'll never let you forget that I'm right at your heels, getting ready to pass you up."

Kaiba moved halfway down the stairs, arms crossed over his chest as he glared down at Jounouchi. "and what makes you think I want some hopeful mediocrity in my life?"

"I don't know," Jounouchi admitted, "but you were the one who threw me into bed. That ball is in your court now."

Kaiba didn't move at first, then he ordered his guards away with a wave of his hand; they hesitated but obeyed the command. Once they were alone in the foyer, Kaiba said, "My company was saved due to time you bought; we rode out the last wave of people who remembered the good duels. And in that time I bore your weight as I had agreed to. There was never anything between us but mutual responsibility."

"And in Tokyo?" Jounouchi pushed, unwilling to back off now. "I'm as ready to stay as I am to walk out this door. Why in Tokyo, Kaiba?" Kaiba didn't answer, and Jounouchi didn't give him the time to think. "If it was nothing more than reflex, then we can end this without a mess, but if it's more than that then you'll come to find me -- I know you." Kaiba's eyebrows raised half an inch, but Jounouchi didn't budge, didn't elaborate. With a smirk he added, "Your move, rich boy," on his way out the door.

**-end chapter thirteen-**


	15. Part II: Chapter Fourteen

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen**

Taking the cab back to Tokyo hadn't been such a big deal, once the money was handed over. Jounouchi had said his goodbyes there while Honda waited in the van, then headed to his apartment. Halfway up the stairs he realized he was going to miss the place, with it's dirty walls and squeaky ceilings. Even while Honda was complaining about what a dump it was, Jounouchi was remembering how many people he'd fed.

What a different person he had become.

"Finally!" The landlady was waiting in front of the door, hunched and frowning. "You're more than an hour late, boy, and I've got a lot to do today! Now, to talk about the terms of your lease..." Her rant went on for about ten minutes: what crummy shape the place was in -- "It was like this when I got here!" Jounouchi had petitioned to no avail -- and how much she wanted in compensation for his breaking the lease. He told her to go choke.

"One month's rent," Honda broke in, smiling at the short woman. "We all know you'll have another person in this apartment in that time, so consider it something of a sublease. And we'll make sure everything is clean before we go."

"Well, if you promise..." Jounouchi cut her the check without arguing, and she kissed Honda's cheek goodbye. Once she was gone he turned to his friend with a simple, "What the hell was that?"

Honda was laughing at him. "You gotta to learn how to handle people better."

"I was a taxi driver -- handling people well wasn't a requirement."

From there it'd been back to Domino -- into the old apartment he'd signed for last week. The apartment he grew up in still had the worn carpet and burn stains on the kitchen counters. The landlord, ever benevolent and lazy, said there hadn't been time to fix it up since Jounouchi's old man died, and no one else wanted it as it was. The old guy wasn't even sure who had picked up his dad's belongings.

"It's a lot nicer than I thought," Honda said as he looked around the empty living room. "No offense, man, but it looks a lot nicer with just your dad's crap gone."

Jounouchi snorted, touching the walls; it was weird for it to be so quiet. "It's a nice place; my mom used to keep it immaculate. The landlord is going to pay for supplies if I do the labor, and I bet with enough scrubbing we could get the kitchen looking manageable. Maybe we can con Anzu into helping."

"Keep dreaming -- just because her room was neater than yours doesn't mean she'll want to clean." The two men stood silent for a moment, and Honda cleared his throat, sitting on a relatively clean patch of carpet. "So, I've... uh, been meaning to ask, this isn't going to be a repeat performance, is it? You're not just gonna shack up with Kaiba and ditch us again, because damn. That was..." Honda coughed, looking up at the window as laughing kids passed outside the door. "We were sure he'd had you offed until your dad told me you'd packed up and disappeared."

Jounouchi shook his head, plopping down where his favorite chair had once been. "Nah. The guy gave me a couple shiners, but he didn't kill me. He doesn't have it in him. And what were you doing talking to my dad?"

Honda looked suddenly awkward, eyes turned elsewhere. "We talked, once, while he was in the hospital. Look, I don't want to open old wounds -- "

"No, go on," Jounouchi demanded, intent. "I didn't even know he was in the hospital -- who paid for it?"

"I started to. Payments were a bitch, and one day I got a call from the hospital telling me that the remainder of the bill had been paid off by an 'anonymous benefactor.' But when I talked to your dad, he was... sober."

"Nothing more sober than squaring off with death."

"I guess. But we talked for a little while; he told me a lot about your sister, and he wanted... He wanted to see you, towards the end there."

Jounouchi shook his head, leaning down to rub his temples. "Let me guess -- he was sorry."

Honda nodded. "He knew full and well that you were turning out just like him, and he was sorry for not stopping you. He said, 'Misery loves company, and I was glad my boy cared enough to be mine.' It was fucked up, Jounouchi. I didn't even know what was going on until your dad clued me in."

In one motion Jounouchi pushed his hair back from his face, looking Honda in the eye. "Thanks for being there for him."

"Don't mention it." The room fell silent again, but outside the kids were still playing, kicking a ball up and down the landing outside the doors while a couple floors up a mother shouted down for them to stop disturbing the neighbors. Honda stretched his feet out and laid back on the floor. "So speaking of Kaiba, are you guys still...?"

"I dunno," Jounouchi admitted; he stretched his arms up, yawning. "I told him that I'd wait for a little bit, but if he's not going to come to me then I'm not going to give him a second thought." Honda craned his head up long enough to give Jounouchi a pointed look, and Jounouchi knew exactly what it meant. They both knew exactly how likely Kaiba was to make the effort to go to Jounouchi's place. The silence grew too thick this time, and Honda jumped up, rotating back and forth to pop his back.

"Alright, let's get this thing worth living in."

**--**

Once the boxes and ratty furniture had been moved in Jounouchi walked down to the closest convenience store for something to eat, and he finally buckled under the curiosity, stopping by the local secondhand store and picking up a Sylph console and a couple games pretty cheap. Armed with his dinner of rice and tea, he sat on the floor of his apartment to give it a whirl.

And he was hooked; he should have known that Kaiba would spare no expense to become the best. He had started with an original RPG that he had vaguely remembered Mokuba talking about over dinners way-back-when, built around the standard save-the-world and get-the-girl story that teenage boys emptied their pockets for. The story wasn't anything terribly new or edgy, but it was addictive, and the graphics were top-notch.

Much to Jounouchi's surprise, the characters bore no resemblance to the Domino crew. With as much of their lives that sometimes followed the save-the-world and get-the-girl storyline, he would have expected Kaiba to parallel the heroes and villains of Domino City. Instead, the hero was tall and sure, the villain was... well, Jounouchi wasn't far enough to know who the villain was, but he was sure it wouldn't resemble Malik or Zork. The closest thing was the damsel in distress -- a blonde junkie.

"I thought you didn't play."

Jounouchi hadn't even heard his door open, but he kept his cool well enough. "I changed my mind."

"You do that a lot."

"Not so often. Did you create this game?"

Kaiba sat on the couch, choosing an open spot between a precarious tower of boxes and a pile of clothes. "Parts of it. I suggested the plot, the time period."

For a moment Jounouchi considering pausing the game, but decided against it. He didn't need to look Kaiba in the eyes; he still remembered what they were like. "The characters?"

"Mostly the developers. I think they polled a lot of the nearby staff regarding some of the them." Kaiba sat back and crossed his legs; Jounouchi could feel himself being watched, and tried not to buckle. "You're not very good at this game -- you don't explore enough."

"You're too analytical," Jounouchi grumbled, pausing the game after all. It was no good to play with performance anxiety. "What are you doing here, Kaiba?"

"I was invited."

"I... Point. Why did you come?"

Kaiba cracked his knuckles, seemingly unaffected as he examined his nails. "You're awfully eager to know if I want to hop in bed with you again -- was it that good?"

"It's not -- "

"Like that, I know. You're more wrong than right, but I can't blame mediocrity for failure. We're not in love -- that's true, and I'm impressed that you had your wits about you long enough to notice. I'd even go so far as to say that you're almost right about us being... rivals, of a sort."

With a grim smile Jounouchi interjected, "Sounds like I'm more right than wrong."

"I'm not afraid of you surpassing me," Kaiba continued as though Jounouchi had never spoken at all. "You've got so far to go, I doubt you'll live long enough. I don't keep you around to keep you down. Above all, I want to see you at your best. It makes beating you worth the effort."

"Ah..." Jounouchi heaved a sigh and leaned back, curling his toes as he thought. "You're too vague, you know. I barely know what the hell you want from me."

"I know."

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. "Wise ass. I won't live with you again."

"I didn't ask you to. I haven't even accepted your offer."

"You wouldn't be here if you hadn't already decided to," Jounouchi retorted. "I know you, Kaiba. Not well, maybe, but well enough." They held each other's glares for a moment, and Jounouchi knew he had won -- of course he had won. What exactly his victory would mean he couldn't be sure, but it was his nonetheless.

Kaiba finally spoke. "Let's try to keep you out of the press this time."

**-end chapter fourteen-**


	16. Epilogue

_**Ashes doesn't own Yu-Gi-Oh!**_

* * *

**Epilogue**

It was cold outside. Jounouchi took a his drag off his cigarette, leaning so far out the window that the sill dug painfully into his stomach. Stupid Kaiba Corporation and their non-smoking policy. Snow stuck to his hair as he took another quick drag, and debating flicking the rest down thirty stories. Knowing his luck, someone would somehow die. Like he needed that.

It had happened again. There had been a good three years of peace -- for varying definitions of good, anyway -- but eventually the press found out. The headline still burned in his mind if he closed his eyes.

"Kaiba Seto & Gay Lover Together Again!"

Years of fighting, of redefining emotional boundaries, of pushing each other to unknown limits -- all to be lumped together as "gay lover." Of course Jounouchi had bought the tabloid, read the article, and called Kaiba. The promise had always been that if it turned into a media circus again it was over. Kaiba had called him into the main office, and then made him wait while they had The Meeting.

Two hours. Half a pack of cigarettes. All he really wanted a good stiff drink -- rum and coke, nothing fancy.

The door finally opened -- Jounouchi glanced back to see board members streaming out, pointedly not looking at him. Jounouchi missed Seiji; at least he'd had the manners to glare at Jounouchi whenever possible. He had always known where he stood.

Kaiba was the last person out; he looked at Jounouchi with absolute neutrality. "We've come to the best conclusions for the company."

The company. The company was back on two feet, powerful as ever with new games and a hand-held system on the way. The company was priority, and Jounouchi recognized that; he watched in silence as Kaiba took a lobby seat, giving no hint as to what was going to happen. After a moment he smashed his cigarette against the side of the building with the other half-dozen burn marks, drawing himself back into the building and closing the window. As he went to take his seat he dropped the butt in the trashcan.

"When Mokuba finishes school he'll come back to Domino and take over as CEO. I'll resign to a lower position, probably in research or design."

Their eyes were locked, and Jounouchi licked his lips. "And the media?"

"Mokuba will be back soon enough. I can ride it out until then."

With a blink, then two, Jounouchi asked incredulously, "You'll ride it out?"

Kaiba nodded. "We'll ride it out."

**-end playing tragic-**

* * *

**notes**  
Ever the lover of happy endings, I always intended this story to have some kind of silver lining -- that given what they had gone through and how much they had changed, they could somehow come together and make it work. The big question is, do I think I pulled it off?

... Well, we'll see what you think. I think my execution was off, and I probably could have handled this story much better. But hey, it's all a learning experience for the next one, lol.

So thank you to **purkledragon**, who is a phenomenal beta and worked hard to make this story presentable, and to **you** for enjoying it, even when it was mediocre. I appreciate every kind word and every criticism I got, and I hope you enjoy the next story I write. D


End file.
